Opinion ID: 685157
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Watseka Land Transaction

Text: 15 Longfellow argues that he should have been permitted to present evidence regarding an unrelated purchase of land by the Credit Union in Watseka, Illinois. He claims that the details of this purchase, although unrelated to the sales of his own real estate in question here, will explain why he believed that keeping the title to real estate in his own name would be beneficial to the Credit Union. 16 In the Watseka transaction, the Credit Union sought to purchase land to open a branch in Watseka. However, before the Credit Union could officially purchase the land and hold title in its own name, it was required to obtain permission from the DFI. Because another organization was also trying to purchase the building in question, forcing the Credit Union to move quickly, the Board of Directors approved the purchase under Longfellow's name. The Credit Union's attorney prepared the paperwork, and the building was purchased and held in trust, with Longfellow holding all of the beneficial interest in the trust. On the advice of the Credit Union's attorney, Longfellow also signed a blank assignment of beneficial interest, permitting his interest to be transferred to the Credit Union at any time. 17 The Credit Union then petitioned the DFI for permission to purchase the building. At first the permission was refused, and the DFI issued a Cease and Desist order because the Credit Union had not acquired prior approval. After repeated requests by the Credit Union's attorney and Board of Directors, however, the DFI approved the transfer of title to the Credit Union, with the understanding that the loans that Longfellow had received to purchase the building would be canceled upon completion of the transfer. Def.Br. at 25. 18 Longfellow contends that this transaction taught him that it was beneficial to the Credit Union for him to keep title to property in his name, and that Cease and Desist orders were not matters of great importance. The district court excluded this evidence on relevance grounds. 19 Longfellow argues that United States v. Rubin, 591 F.2d 278 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 864, 100 S.Ct. 133, 62 L.Ed.2d 87 (1979), and United States v. Martin-Trigona, 684 F.2d 485 (7th Cir.1982), require that the Watseka evidence be admitted because it goes to his good faith defense. In Rubin, the defendant was accused of embezzling union funds and claimed lack of criminal intent as a defense. He argued that statements made by past presidents of the Union led him to understand that his actions in disbursing funds were proper under the Union's constitution, and that these statements were therefore improperly excluded as hearsay. The court concluded that the statements were not hearsay because they were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, and that, because they were directly relevant to the defendant's intent, they should have been admitted. 20 In Martin-Trigona, the defendant was accused of mail fraud and had been prohibited from presenting any evidence of his good faith or lack of intent to defraud. Noting that it was difficult to determine exactly what good faith evidence the defendant had been trying to introduce, this Court ascribed its confusion to the fact that the defendant had also been improperly denied effective counsel. Thus we concluded that the defendant was entitled to introduce any legitimate good faith evidence that he had, and we remanded for further proceedings. 21 Rubin and Martin-Trigona certainly stand for the unexceptionable proposition that proper evidence of good faith should be admitted. However, they do not require that any evidence, no matter how tangential, irrelevant or otherwise inadmissible, must be admitted simply because the defendant claims that it establishes his good faith. Here, the district court allowed other evidence of Longfellow's good faith, but concluded that there was no parallel at all between the Watseka situation, where Longfellow was acting on behalf of the Credit Union, at the direction of the Credit Union, to acquire a goal of the Credit Union, and the transactions where Longfellow was selling his own property without informing anyone at the Credit Union. Tr. at 455. 22 We will not reverse the district court's evidentiary ruling absent an abuse of discretion. United States v. Fryer, 974 F.2d 813 (7th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2418, 124 L.Ed.2d 641 (1993); United States v. Biesiadecki, 933 F.2d 539 (7th Cir.1991). In the Watseka transaction Longfellow not only informed the Board of Directors of his actions, but had their permission and help as well as that of the Credit Union's attorney. None of these factors were present in the transactions in the present case. There was no abuse of discretion here.