Opinion ID: 653672
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony About Robert Levine's Alleged Embezzlement

Text: 38 At trial, the government produced numerous witnesses that testified to statements that Donald and Marsha made in the months preceding the murders about Robert's alleged embezzlement. Robert contends that such statements were inadmissible hearsay. He also complains that these statements violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him, that they were improperly admitted as evidence of prior bad acts, and were unfairly prejudicial. 39 As an initial matter, Robert errs when he characterizes statements made by witnesses at trial as hearsay. The statements that the witnesses repeated--comments by Donald and Marsha that Robert stole from them--were not hearsay because they were not offered to prove the truth of the matters asserted in the statements. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(c). Rather, that testimony was offered to prove Robert's motive for hiring McKinney to murder Donald, Marsha, and Mark. The inference is obvious. Donald and Marsha made repeated statements to business associates in Arizona, Chicago, and Munster that Robert was stealing from them and their businesses. Robert found out about the statements, became angry, and hired McKinney. The evidence was properly admitted as background to show Robert's state of mind and to show Robert's motive. See United States v. Colston, 936 F.2d 312, 317 (7th Cir.) (evidence not hearsay when admitted as background and to show state of mind), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 403, 116 L.Ed.2d 352 (1991). Nor did the admission of this evidence violate the Confrontation Clause. See, e.g., Martinez v. McCaughtry, 951 F.2d 130, 134 (7th Cir.1991) (when a statement is not hearsay, the confrontation clause is not implicated). 40 Finally, we reject Levine's contention that the evidence was unfairly prejudicial, cumulative, or confusing. Fed.R.Evid. 403. The testimony established that Donald and Marsha widely circulated allegations of theft by Robert. The breadth of their dissemination was probative of Robert's motive for killing them. The evidence at trial further indicated that Donald reduced Robert's interest in the partnership and that, according to McKinney, Donald was out to ruin Robert. The evidence also showed that hostility existed between Robert and Marsha. 41 We review the district court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. United States v. Hanson, 994 F.2d 403, 406 (7th Cir.1993). That discretion was not abused here when the court admitted testimony about the allegations of embezzlement made by Donald and Marsha Levine in months prior to their deaths.