Opinion ID: 778482
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sales Orders and Verification Tapes

Text: 44 In challenging the district court's decision to admit the sales orders and tapes under the business records exception, Defendants focus solely on the source of the information contained in the records. According to Defendants, the information in the tapes and sales orders came from AEA's customers, not itrs employees. Relying on this assertion, and the fact that the business records exception does not cover information derived from customers (unless such statements have been verified), Defendants argue that the district court erred in allowing the tapes and orders in under Rule 803(6), and that their convictions should be overturned as a result of this error. See United States v. Arteaga, 117 F.3d 388, 395 (9th Cir.1997); see also FED. R. EVID. 803(6), Advisory Committee Note to Paragraph (6)(stating that if the supplier of the information [in the business record] does not act in the regular course [of business], an essential link is broken; the assurance of accuracy [that justifies the exception] does not extend to the information, and the exception should not apply). 45 We cannot accept Defendants' position. Contrary to Defendants' claim, AEA employees, acting in the ordinary course of business, were the source of much of the information in the tapes and sales orders. In completing the sales orders, Reloaders supplied first-hand information on the quantity sold, the price obtained, the date of the transaction, the false business name concocted for the customer, the number called, and the name and address given by the person on the other end of the line. This information provided much of the content for the verification calls. In addition, Rudisill and Ms. Eames recorded on the sales orders, without input from customers, the amount of the token gift to be sent to customers, shipping information, and notes indicating that a given sale was verified. 46 To the extent customers were the source of information in the tapes and sales orders, as opposed to AEA employees under a duty to record, the information provided was either verified by an employee in Phoenix, or, as in the case of customer complaints, was expressly not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, and thus was not hearsay in need of an exception. See Arteaga, 117 F.3d at 395-96. In light of the foregoing, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the tapes and sales orders under the business records exception.