Opinion ID: 387875
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Leake's Testimony Regarding His Conversation with Graham.

Text: 17 Count four of the indictment charged Leake with aiding and abetting Faulkner in misappropriating $6,825 in federal funds by paying that amount to Dr. Alexander for services that he did not perform, and having Dr. Alexander return that money to the defendants. To show that Leake did not have the specific intent to aid and abet this illegal diversion, 4 defense counsel sought to have Leake testify that, based on a conversation he had with H. O. Graham, then Chairman of Innovative's Board, he understood that the money returned by Dr. Alexander had been used to finance a country music concert to be held to raise money for Innovative. Leake's testimony was proffered as follows: 18 Q. Bishop Leake, what conversation did you have with Reverend Graham regarding the money which had been returned by Dr. Alexander? 19 A. Reverend Graham informed me in a conversation that he had instructed Mr. Faulkner, after conversing with Mr. Johnson, to turn those funds over to Mr. Johnson for the purpose of the explicit purpose of bringing a Charlie Pride country music show to this community to generate funds for Innovative. 20 Q. What did you say to Reverend Graham in response to it? 21 A. I said to him that I thought that he had exceeded his authority in that matter in that no one had conferred with me. First of all, that the funds had been returned since I was out of the city and no one had conferred with me about what they were going to do with them, and he exerted his authority as Chairman of the Board. 22 The district court sustained the prosecution's objection to this testimony, ruling that it was inadmissible as hearsay, not within any of the recognized exceptions to the hearsay rule. 23 We hold that the district court erred in excluding this portion of Leake's testimony. Although the testimony recounted the out-of-court statement of another, it was not hearsay because the statement was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. 5 Graham's statement to Leake concerning the returned funds was not offered to prove that the money was, in fact, used to finance a country music concert; its purpose rather was to show that Leake believed that the funds were being used in a legitimate fashion. The statement thus served as circumstantial evidence of Leake's state of mind, and would have been evidence that he did not have the specific intent necessary to aid and abet an illegal payment to Dr. Alexander. 6 See United States v. Carter, 491 F.2d 625 (5 Cir. 1974) (defendant's proposed testimony that his cousin lent him an automobile and had not told him it was stolen was not hearsay, but admissible to prove defendant's state of mind in prosecution for receiving a stolen automobile, a crime requiring proof of knowledge that the automobile was stolen). Had Leake been permitted to recount what Graham had told him, the jury might have found that Leake lacked the criminal intent necessary to convict him of aiding and abetting the misappropriation of the returned money. The district court's error in excluding the testimony was, therefore, prejudicial. 7 24 We reverse the judgment of the district court and grant the defendants a new trial. 25 REVERSED; NEW TRIAL GRANTED.