Opinion ID: 164208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Exclusion of “Bribe” Testimony

Text: Defendants argue the district court erred in excluding deposition testimony of an alleged “bribe” between General Banderas of TAME and Plaintiff. The district court held, among other things, that the testimony was irrelevant under Fed. R. Evid. 401 and unfairly prejudicial under Fed. R. Evid. 403. Defendants claim the evidence regarding the “bribe” is relevant because, among other things, it shows (1) possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or (2) the reason negotiations between Plaintiff and Defendants failed. The district court believed Defendants proffered the bribe testimony primarily to show why Defendants stopped negotiating with Plaintiff and why they began to negotiate with TAME directly. Accordingly, the district court concluded that the bribe testimony was irrelevant because Defendants did not learn of the alleged bribe until well after Defendants terminated its agency relationship with Plaintiff. 17 Evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. United Int’l Holdings Inc., 210 F.3d at 1230. Relevant evidence is “evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 401. All relevant evidence is generally admissible. Fed. R. Evid. 402. Relevant evidence can be excluded, however, pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 403 if “its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” A district court has broad discretion to determine whether prejudice inherent in otherwise relevant evidence outweighs its probative value. United States v. Youts, 229 F.3d 1312, 1319 (10th Cir. 2000). The record supports the district court’s decision to exclude the bribe testimony on grounds of relevancy. Statements Defendants made on the record support the district court’s conclusion that Defendants were offering the bribe testimony to explain why it terminated Plaintiff. For example, in Defendants’ opposition to Plaintiff’s motion in limine requesting the court to exclude the bribe testimony, Defendants stated “if Dodson believed that TAME was expecting a kick-back or bribe, and Defendant Dodson believed that expectation was illegal, then such belief is relevant as to Mr. Dodson’s state of mind as it relates to any action he took as a result of that state of mind.” Placing this statement into context, we can easily see why the district court believed the evidence was irrelevant. 18 As the facts show, Defendants terminated their business relationship with Plaintiff on December 3, 1998. Defendants did not learn of any alleged bribe, however, until January 26, 1999. Consequently, evidence of the bribe was irrelevant to show why Defendants terminated Plaintiff. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence under Rule 401.3 More importantly, even if the bribe testimony was marginally relevant to an issue in the case, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the evidence’s probative value outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice under Rule 403. The bribe testimony was inflammatory and prejudicial because it connoted possible illegal activity. Additionally, testimony regarding the alleged bribe could have increased possible jury confusion because many issues and facts were raised during this two-week trial. Finding no evidence in the record to the contrary, we uphold the district court’s exclusion of the bribe testimony under Rule 403.