Opinion ID: 561318
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exclusion of Testimony of FCCB Customers

Text: 23 Biesiadecki sought to introduce testimony from FCCB customers not named in the indictment who would testify that they had heard Biesiadecki's sales pitch but did not believe that they had been defrauded. The government moved in limine to exclude this testimony and the trial judge granted the motion. 24 Biesiadecki argues in his brief that the testimony of the other customers was proffered for the purposes of corroborating his testimony that he had a unique sales presentation, establishing that there were individuals who were not misled, and undermining the credibility of the government's witnesses. However, at a pretrial status hearing the trial judge requested clarification from Biesiadecki's attorney concerning the specific type of evidence sought to be introduced from the other FCCB customers. The attorney indicated that the customers would testify that Biesiadecki made statements to them that were similar to the statements alleged in the indictment, but that they were not misled or deceived by these statements. 1 Biesiadecki contends that the evidence is admissible to show that his conduct was not fraudulent and to the extent he engaged in puffing, it was not relied on by reasonable people. 25 The district court found that the fact that some customers not named in the indictment may not have felt deceived by Biesiadecki's sales presentation was not relevant in determining whether Biesiadecki's conduct was fraudulent. [T]he mail fraud statute punishes the scheme to defraud, and does not require that the intended victim actually have been defrauded. Ward v. United States, 845 F.2d 1459, 1462 (7th Cir.1988). Those who are gullible, as well as those who are skeptical, are entitled to the protection of the mail fraud statute. United States v. Sylvanus, 192 F.2d 96, 105 (7th Cir.1951), cert. denied, 342 U.S. 943, 72 S.Ct. 555, 96 L.Ed. 701 (1952). The excluded testimony of the other FCCB customers would have improperly shifted the jury's attention away from the knowledge and intent of Biesiadecki and focused instead on the beliefs of the victims of the alleged scheme to defraud. United States v. Bryza, 522 F.2d 414, 421 (7th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 912, 96 S.Ct. 2237, 48 L.Ed.2d 837 (1976). The district court is accorded wide latitude in determining the relevancy of evidence. United States v. King, 897 F.2d 911, 915 (7th Cir.1990). We find that the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in excluding the proffered testimony. 26