Opinion ID: 220180
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: MoneyGram Records of Wire Transfers

Text: As further evidence of a money-laundering conspiracy, the government introduced spreadsheets of MoneyGram transactions allegedly involving the defendant. Keck contends the admission of these spreadsheets denied him a right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment. Applying our recent precedent in United States v. Yeley-Davis, 632 F.3d 673, 678-79, (10th Cir.2011), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2172, 179 L.Ed.2d 951 (2011), we find the spreadsheets are non-testimonial and admissible as evidence. The Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause provides that, [i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him. U.S. CONST. Amend. VI. In Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 51, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), the Supreme Court held the Confrontation Clause guarantees a defendant's right to confront those who bear testimony against him. Under Crawford, out-of-court testimonial statements are inadmissible unless the witness appears at trial or, if the witness is unavailable, the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination. Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2527, 2531, 174 L.Ed.2d 314 (2009) (citing Crawford, 541 U.S. at 54, 124 S.Ct. 1354.). We have defined a testimonial statement as a statement that a reasonable person in the position of the declarant would objectively foresee might be used in the investigation or prosecution of a crime. United States v. Pablo, 625 F.3d 1285, 1291 (10th Cir.2010). In Yeley-Davis, 632 F.3d at 678-79, we considered mobile phone records similar to the wire-transfer records in this case. We began by observing the phone records fell under the business-records exception to the hearsay rule, FED.R.EVID. 803(b). Id. at 678. We also noted the Supreme Court's suggestion in Crawford that business records are, by their nature, non-testimonial and hence not subject to the Confrontation Clause. Id. at 679 (quoting Crawford, 541 U.S. at 56, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (Most of the hearsay exceptions covered statements that by their nature were not testimonialfor example, business records or statements in furtherance of a conspiracy.)). After examining the disputed phone records, we concluded they were not testimonial because they were created for the administration of the phone company's affairs and not for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact at trial. Id. (quoting United States v. Green, 396 Fed.Appx. 573, 574-75 (11th Cir.2010) (unpublished)). Yeley-Davis controls our analysis in this case, although we recognize an ambiguity in the testimony authenticating the MoneyGram spreadsheets. MoneyGram's records custodian testified that he received the wire-transfer data in the form of computer-generated Excel worksheets, and that the records were not altered in any way. But he also testified, I was asked to put them on one sheet, and I did ... [by] cop[ying] the information and past[ing] it. R., Vol. 3 at 397. This testimony is ambiguous because the word sheet could refer to either (1) a spreadsheet (implying he created a compilation by combining data from several documents into a new one), or (2) a sheet of paper (implying he reformatted the document to fit related data together on one page). Keck contends that, since the records custodian cut and pasted information, there is no way to know what data were retained or excluded. In response, the government contends the records custodian only moved data onto different pages so the government could introduce separate, authenticated exhibits for each transaction, and therefore the exhibits, as a whole, contain all the information originally provided in the computer-generated spreadsheets. Keck's argument is foreclosed by Yeley-Davis. Like the phone records in that case, the records of wire-transfer transactions involving Keck were created for the administration of MoneyGram's affairs and not the purpose of establishing or proving some fact at trial. See Yeley-Davis, 632 F.3d at 679. And since the underlying wire-transfer data are not testimonial, the records custodian's actions in preparing the exhibits do not constitute a Confrontation Clause violation. Nor do these actions render the spreadsheets inadmissible as evidence. If the records custodian had created a compilation by copying data from several spreadsheets into a new document, then that compilation would be admissible as a summary under Rule 1006 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. [1] While a summary is admissible only if all the records from which it is drawn are otherwise admissible, see State Office Sys., Inc. v. Olivetti Corp. of Am., 762 F.2d 843, 845 (10th Cir.1985); United States v. Samaniego, 187 F.3d 1222, 1223-24 (10th Cir.1999), Keck's counsel conceded at oral argument that the original, computer-generated Excel worksheets were business records for the purpose of the business-record exception to the hearsay rule. Alternatively, if the records custodian merely repaginated the data so each transaction could be admitted as a separate exhibit, then the records would remain non-testimonial business records under Rule 803(6). See United States v. Ary, 518 F.3d 775, 786-87 (10th Cir.2008) (describing the business-record hearsay exception's requirements). In the context of electronically-stored data, the business record is the datum itself, not the format in which it is printed out for trial or other purposes. As the district court concluded, I do not think that the Government needs to produce the computer from Minneapolis.... The fact that the document was downloaded, the information was pulled from that file cabinet, and placed on a tangible spreadsheet foron a piece of paper, I don't think that changes the fact that it is a business record. R., Vol. 3 at 400. In any event, Keck cannot demonstrate any prejudice resulting from the exhibits' admission. First, even if the Excel spreadsheets were inadmissible, the data they contained were not. So the records custodian could testify to the data because they are non-testimonial and fall under the business-record hearsay exception. Second, the money-laundering conviction did not rest entirelyor even primarilyon wire-transfer records. These exhibits merely corroborated his daughter's uncontested testimony that wire transfers were used as part of a criminal conspiracy. Because her testimony was sufficient to establish the elements of the money-laundering charge, Keck cannot demonstrate that the evidentiary decision to admit the wire-transfer records affected a substantial right. In summary, the admission of the MoneyGram spreadsheets did not deny Keck a right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment because the spreadsheets were not testimonial. And because the original spreadsheets constitute business records, the evidence is admissible, either directly under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(b) or as a summary under Federal Rule of Evidence 1006.