Opinion ID: 747836
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proof of Mailings

Text: 12 Three of LaBarbara's mail-fraud convictions turn on the alleged mailing by the Training Program of three checks to Eastern. LaBarbara's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence faces a heavy burden, because we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and ask only whether a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that LaBarbara caused the three mailings. See, e.g., Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469; United States v. Pipola, 83 F.3d 556, 564 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 183, 136 L.Ed.2d 122 (1996); United States v. Giraldo, 80 F.3d 667, 673 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 135, 136 L.Ed.2d 83 (1996). Nevertheless, we agree that the evidence of mailing on those counts was legally insufficient. 13 There is no direct evidence that the Training Program mailed the three checks to Eastern. However, use of the mails may be established by circumstantial evidence, see, e.g., United States v. Srulowitz, 785 F.2d 382, 387 (2d Cir.1986); United States v. Toliver, 541 F.2d 958, 966 (2d Cir.1976); United States v. Fassoulis, 445 F.2d 13, 17 (2d Cir.1971), but the standard of proof is, as with every element of a crime, beyond a reasonable doubt. Srulowitz, 785 F.2d at 386-87; see also United States v. Baker, 50 F.2d 122, 123 (2d Cir.1931). For example, in Srulowitz, a mail-fraud conviction was overturned for insufficient proof of mailing where the letter in question was found only in the files of someone other than the addressee. That person speculated that he might have gotten it from the addressee, who in turn speculated that, if the letter had been in his files, it would have arrived by mail. 785 F.2d at 387. However, there was no envelope, date stamp, or testimony from the addressee's secretary who normally opened the mail. We held that the evidence was entirely too thin to support a conviction for mail fraud. Id. 14 Furthermore, inferences drawn from circumstantial evidence such as routine practice have been held insufficient in cases where there is evidence of alternative methods of delivery. In Baker, for example, there was testimony that the letters involved might have been delivered by hand, and the court held that in those circumstances the circumstantial proof of mailing was insufficient to exclude a reasonable doubt. 50 F.2d at 123; see also Fassoulis, 445 F.2d at 17 (distinguishing Baker as holding that method of indirect proof is insufficient where there is evidence of alternative method of delivery). 15 However, not all evidence of an alternative method of delivery will foreclose a conviction based on circumstantial evidence of mailing. See United States v. Huber, 603 F.2d 387, 399 (2d Cir.1979). In Huber, there was testimony that checks like those at issue were typically mailed in the ordinary course of business. There was also testimony that other checks, apparently of a different kind, were picked up by hand. Nevertheless, we held that the evidence of alternative methods did not undermine as a matter of law the use of customary business practices as proof of mailing. Id. Thus, evidence of an alternative method of delivery must cast significant doubt on the government's circumstantial evidence of mailing to render the latter legally insufficient. 16 We believe that the circumstantial evidence relied upon by the government in the instant matter is legally insufficient. The checks were found in the files of the Funds, after being cashed by Eastern. The government argues that one can infer the mailing of checks both from records of the Training Program indicating the mailing of other documents such as contracts, change orders, and invoices and from the presence of Eastern's address on some of those other documents. However, the three checks were handwritten and did not have Eastern's address on their face. Moreover, the fact that LaBarbara's father was an officer of Eastern renders hand delivery a plausible method and further undermines any inference of mailing. Finally, there was evidence that some of the other documents relied upon by the government were in fact not mailed. For example, there was testimony that change orders were generated at the construction site and were not mailed. As in Srulowitz, the evidence of mailing is entirely too thin to support a conviction. 785 F.2d at 387.