Opinion ID: 195790
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Proffered Testimony of William Harvey

Text: 31 Bates claims that the court erred in excluding the testimony of William Harvey, who had two telephone conversations with Nykaza in July 1991, over a year after Nykaza left Shearson. Harvey's testimony, if allowed, was to the effect that Nykaza had told him that part of the funds he had obtained from Bates were for personal use and part of the funds were for investment. Harvey's testimony also would have shown that Nykaza told him that the purpose of the Dominick account he subsequently opened with $5,000 was to regain the monies he had previously taken from Bates. Bates argues that this evidence was necessary to prove that Nykaza obtained the funds from Bates for investment purposes, presumably at Shearson. 32 The court excluded this testimony because it did not believe that Harvey's testimony added anything to assist the jury with respect to the issue of whether Nykaza was acting as an agent of Shearson in his dealings with Bates. We do not believe that the court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence because it was cumulative and only marginally relevant at best. 33 The issue in this case was whether or not Shearson had engaged in any conduct that gave Nykaza apparent authority to act as its agent in his dealings with Bates. None of Harvey's proposed testimony was to the effect that Nykaza was going to invest Bates' money at Shearson. In fact, Harvey's proffer indicated that Nykaza never mentioned Shearson at all to him. 34 As a final matter, we note that even if we were to find error in the court's two evidentiary decisions, which we do not, we would be bound to hold the error harmless on this record. Even if this evidence had been admitted, none of the testimony was sufficient to establish that Shearson engaged in any conduct that gave Nykaza apparent authority to act as its agent in his dealings with Bates. 35 For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the district court is affirmed.