Opinion ID: 781796
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Conceded Hearsay Evidence

Text: 37 McKenna asserts that Counts 3 and 4 should be reversed because the trial court erred when it allowed the government to introduce a redacted copy of the magistrate's findings of fact and conclusions of law from the civil trial. The government concedes that the magistrate's findings and conclusions were inadmissible hearsay, but maintains that this error does not warrant reversal under the plain error standard. We first note, without deciding, that admission of this evidence for the limited purpose of proving materiality was not necessarily error. That is, this evidence was arguably offered not to prove the truth of the magistrate's findings of fact and conclusions of law, but to establish that McKenna's false statements had a tendency to, or were capable of, affecting the magistrate's decision-making process in light of the issues in dispute in the civil trial. In any event, we conclude that any error in admitting the redacted findings of fact and conclusions of law was harmless because McKenna did not object at trial, did not request any limiting instruction, and the evidence of her guilt was otherwise overwhelming.