Opinion ID: 550378
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of Extraneous Transactions

Text: 15 Finally, appellant asserts that the district court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of certain monetary transactions that Continental Coin Co., Superior Stamp and Coin Co. and Numismatics, Ltd. used to cover the cash transactions. The district court denied appellant's motion to exclude the voluminous documents from the Superior Stamp and Coin Company, the Numismatics Coin Company and the Continental Coin Company, substantiating the underlying money-laundering offenses, [on the ground that they were] not relevant and constituted unfairly prejudicial and confusing evidence. The appellant, however, concedes that the evidence is relevant and rests his argument solely on the undue prejudice prong of United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898, 911 (5th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 920, 99 S.Ct. 1244, 59 L.Ed.2d 472 (1979). The government argues that the evidence is not subject to the 404(b) analysis discussed in Beechum, but instead is admissible because it pertain[s] to the chain of events explaining the context, motive and set-up of the crime [which] is properly admitted if linked in time and circumstances with the charged crime, or forms an integral and natural part of an account of the crime, or is necessary to complete the story of the crime for the jury. United States v. Williford, 764 F.2d 1493, 1498 (11th Cir.1985). Regardless of whether this evidence is subject to the first prong of Beechum, all evidence is subject to Rule 403's balancing test, which is the second prong of Beechum. 16 In United States v. Norton, 867 F.2d 1354, 1361 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 200, 107 L.Ed.2d 154 (1989), we stated: 17 the court's discretion to exclude evidence under Rule 403 is narrowly circumscribed. Rule 403 is an extraordinary remedy which should be used only sparingly since it permits the trial court to exclude concededly probative evidence. ... The balance under the Rule, therefore, should be struck in favor of admissibility. 18 The court further commented that [i]t is only when the probative value of evidence is 'substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice' ... that relevant evidence should be excluded. Id. at 1362 (quoting United States v. Bailleaux, 685 F.2d 1105, 1111 (9th Cir.1982) (emphasis in original)). 19 Appellant also argues that since he was prepared to stipulate that the Grand Jury was investigating money-laundering activities engaged in by other individuals in order to eliminate the need for this volume of evidence, the evidence was more prejudicial because it was unnecessary. In United States v. O'Shea, 724 F.2d 1514, 1516 (11th Cir.1984), the court noted that there is no per se rule against admission of evidence where defendant offers to stipulate an element of the offense. The court held that an offer to stipulate is one factor in 403 analysis. Id. The government argues that the information was necessary to put the obstruction charge in context. The substance of the charge against Huppert was that he tried to get O'Rourke and Gordon to lie about his involvement with certain transactions. This background information, while not crucial, was necessary to give the jury a reason why Huppert, a bank president, would try to get Gordon and O'Rourke to lie. The district court did not abuse its discretion.