Opinion ID: 2967728
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Counts 23 and 24: Gloria and Willard1 Turnage

Text: Gloria Turnage, like Linda Macklin, is Hayes’ sister-in-law, and, like Macklin, Gloria hired Hayes to prepare tax returns for her and her husband in 1996 and 1997. These returns included large deductions for medical expenses and charitable contributions. Hayes asserts that the Turnages’ testimony established that these deductions were accurate. This is incorrect. Under questioning by the court, Willard Tur- 1 The indictment spells Mr. Turnage’s first name Williard. J.A. 13. It appears in the transcript as Willard, however. Id. at 188. We have adopted the latter spelling. 8 UNITED STATES v. HAYES nage testified that the deductions on the Turnages’ returns were wrong. J.A. 193. Thus, the evidence supports the conclusion that the Turnages’ returns included false statements. Although Hayes has not raised this issue, we note that the evidence also supports the inference that it was Hayes who fabricated the incorrect amounts noted on the Turnages’ returns. Gloria testified that she gave Hayes a series of documents—[m]y W-2s, my medical bills, my financial statement from church, my day care, id. at 170—and let him compute her deductions. Willard, for his part, stated that he really didn’t do anything to assist Hayes with the preparation of tax returns. Id. at 189. It follows that neither Gloria nor Willard provided Hayes with the incorrect numbers that appeared on their tax returns. Consequently, Hayes must have either derived those numbers from Gloria’s records or invented them himself. In light of the general reliability of business records and the substantial similarities between the errors on the Turnage returns and false deductions noted on other returns prepared by Hayes, a jury could reasonably conclude that Hayes fabricated the incorrect figures on the Turnage returns. Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support Hayes’ convictions.