Opinion ID: 502711
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Admissibility of Prejudicial Evidence

Text: 20 Westmoreland contends that the district court erred in admitting two types of evidence: (1) evidence of her alleged misconduct during a previous term of public office and (2) the guilt by association evidence concerning another county supervisor, Junie Mixon. The first, she argues, was inadmissible under Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Concerning the second, she argues that some of it was hearsay, some was irrelevant, and all was highly prejudicial. Where a party timely objects to the admission of evidence, we review the district court's ruling under an abuse of discretion standard. See, e.g., United States v. Henthorn, 815 F.2d 304, 308 (5th Cir.1987); Petty v. Ideco, Div. of Dresser Indus., Inc., 761 F.2d 1146, 1151 (5th Cir.1985).
21 In United States v. Beechum, we outlined a two-step analysis to guide trial courts in determining the admissibility of evidence under Rule 404(b): First, it must be determined that the extrinsic offense is relevant to an issue other than the defendant's character. Second, the evidence must possess probative value that is not substantially outweighed by its undue prejudice and must meet the other requirements of Rule 403. 582 F.2d 898, 911 (5th Cir.1978) (en banc). We further held, in United States v. Robinson, 700 F.2d 205, 213 (5th Cir.1983), that the district court must articulate its balancing judgment on the record when requested by a party. In this case, the government proffered the testimony of a state investigative auditor concerning discrepancies in Westmoreland's financial records from her prior term as justice court judge, and the district court thoroughly complied with the guidelines of Beechum and Robinson. The district judge's determination reflects a well-reasoned assessment of the factors of probativeness and prejudice underlying his decision, and we perceive no abuse of his discretion in admitting the evidence. 22 Although Westmoreland obviously disagrees with the district court's judgment, her primary complaint is that, because the investigation was incomplete, she was unable to explain the discrepancies or to answer any charges. Westmoreland urges us to follow the Tenth Circuit's decision in United States v. Biswell, 700 F.2d 1310, 1318 (10th Cir.1983), where the court held that, under the circumstances, evidence of ongoing investigations should have been excluded. Without expressing an opinion about Biswell, we reject Westmoreland's assertion that evidence of the uncompleted investigation here lacked probative value and overwhelmingly prejudiced her because she could not adequately respond. The evidence did not portray her as taking part in general criminal activities for an undefined period. Biswell, 700 F.2d at 1316. Rather, the auditor's testimony was detailed and specific, and Westmoreland knew of the charges against her. A state auditor requested Westmoreland's financial records for the years in question when the investigation began; the government informed Westmoreland before trial that it might use the evidence; and she received copies of the auditor's worksheets at the start of the trial. 23 Moreover, Westmoreland's argument concerning probativeness actually challenges the reliability of the auditor's figures. Clearly, if the calculations were so erroneous that no discrepancy in fact existed, then the government failed to sufficiently prove that Westmoreland committed the alleged extrinsic offense--abuse of an elected office by misappropriating public funds--and the evidence would be irrelevant to show intent and predisposition, the purposes for which it was admitted. See Beechum, 582 F.2d at 912-13. However, [t]he standard for the admissibility of extrinsic offense evidence is that of rule 104(b): 'the preliminary fact can be decided by the judge against the proponent only where the jury could not reasonably find the preliminary fact to exist.'  Id. at 913 (quoting 21 Wright & Graham, Federal Practice and Procedure: Evidence Sec. 5054, at 269 (1977)). In this case, the auditor admitted on cross-examination that Westmoreland might be able to resolve some of the discrepancy, but the auditor also testified that further investigation would probably increase the $9,506.95 figure derived from the completed portions of the audit. Thus the existence of a discrepancy cannot seriously be questioned, and as stated earlier, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the auditor's testimony.
24 The district court admitted, over Westmoreland's objection, testimony by Agent King that a conversation with Junie Mixon led him to investigate Westmoreland because it indicated that she might be willing to accept kickbacks. Ray Davis and Agent King also testified, over objection, that they paid kickbacks to Junie Mixon. Ray Davis made this statement while explaining why he believed that Westmoreland would accept illegal payments and how he indirectly offered kickbacks to her by simply referring to his dealings with Junie Mixon; Agent King's statement occurred in the course of testifying how he initiated his investigation. Westmoreland also complains of the government's cross-examination of one of her character witnesses, a contractor who the government questioned about paving a road to Mixon's house; the government contends that it properly sought to impeach the witness by asking about a specific instance of misconduct. Westmoreland contends that evidence of Mixon's statements was hearsay and that evidence concerning Mixon's misconduct was irrelevant. She argues that the evidence was prejudicial because she was thus associated with Junie Mixon and his crimes. Westmoreland cites numerous cases where we have held that the admission of evidence concerning the crimes of a defendant's friends or relatives constituted reversible error because it resulted in guilt by association. See, e.g., United States v. Romo, 669 F.2d 285 (5th Cir.1982); United States v. Escamilla, 666 F.2d 126 (5th Cir.1982); United States v. Ochoa, 609 F.2d 198 (5th Cir.1980); United States v. Labarbera, 581 F.2d 107 (5th Cir.1978). 25 Although the guilt by association problem presented by this evidence causes us some concern, we cannot accept Westmoreland's contention that admission of the evidence, even if erroneous, constituted reversible error. First, we cannot say that the evidence concerning Junie Mixon was irrelevant to any issue in the case. Labarbera, 581 F.2d at 109. The government offered the evidence to establish that Mixon and Westmoreland had talked about taking kickbacks, evidence that was clearly relevant to whether she was predisposed to commit the crimes or had been entrapped by the government as she claimed, and to counter her position that, as a new supervisor, she innocently dealt with corrupt vendors without realizing that they were offering her illegal payments. Second, [t]he determination of the impact which a prejudicial statement has upon a jury must be made on a case by case basis. Escamilla, 666 F.2d at 128. After carefully reviewing the record in this case, we are unconvinced that the evidence objected to here had a prejudicial impact. References to Junie Mixon do not permeate the record; rather, the government questioned witnesses concerning him on only three occasions during five days of trial. Moreover, the trial judge instructed the jury to return a verdict on the offenses alleged in the indictment and to not consider the guilt or innocence of any person other than Westmoreland. 26 Most importantly, [a] court's assessment of the impact of a prejudicial statement is tempered by the substantiality of evidence of the defendant's guilt. Id. at 129. Westmoreland admitted receiving payments for county purchases from Agent King and, on one occasion, an unexplained envelope of cash from Ray Davis. Thus the issues at trial concerned her intent and lack of predisposition, and on these issues, the evidence was overwhelming. The tape recordings of Westmoreland accepting bribes show her discussing the kickback scheme with Agent King at length, including busting invoices or billing the county for undelivered goods and splitting invoices to avoid the state's bid advertising laws, and laughingly accepting Agent King's money during their first meeting. Westmoreland explained that she unwittingly acquiesced in a plan orchestrated by Agent King because, as a new supervisor, she did not want to reveal her ignorance; however, at later meetings where she also accepted money, she told Agent King how her recordkeeping system would prevent the state auditor from detecting their dealings--a statement that clearly belies her professed innocence. In addition to Westmoreland's willingness to accept illegal payments from Agent King, the evidence of her predisposition, as discussed below, was substantial. Even without considering evidence that she discussed taking kickbacks before the government became involved, surely the properly admitted evidence that she had previously used her public office for personal gain and that she dealt illegally with a vendor who was not a government agent shows that the government detected, rather than caused, her corruption. In short, we conclude that the jury convicted Westmoreland based on the overwhelming evidence of her guilt, not on any evidence of her friend's misconduct.