Opinion ID: 727292
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Opinion Testimony on Outreach/Advertising

Text: 84 William E. Hoffman, Jr., former Senior Manager and Director of Appeals at CMC, testified that he had told Calhoon that he did not think that it was proper to collapse all advertising accounts into a single account called outreach both because not all advertising was outreach and because collapsing the advertising into a single account did not specifically identify the reimbursable outreach costs. Hoffman testified that Calhoon disagreed. They therefore discussed the matter with Richard Shackelford, an attorney who handled CMC's appellate matters when outside counsel was required. Hoffman asked Shackelford his opinion as to whether it was appropriate to file the collapsed ledgers. At trial, Calhoon's counsel objected to Hoffman's testifying about Shackelford's answer on the ground that it was hearsay. After hearing argument from both parties on the matter, the district court overruled the objection, permitting Hoffman to testify that Shackelford said that they should absolutely not be filing the collapsed general ledgers. Calhoon challenges the admission of Shackelford's statements on the grounds that it was hearsay and irrelevant and that any relevance it did have was outweighed by danger of unfair prejudice. See Fed.R.Evid. 402, 403, 801, 802. 85 Calhoon cites United States v. Race, 632 F.2d 1114 (4th Cir.1980) in support of his argument. In Race, the falsity of the statements that served as the basis for a section 1001 conviction depended upon the interpretation of terms of a contract. The court held that expert testimony on the meaning of the contract terms was superfluous and improper. Race, 632 F.2d at 1119-20. 86 Calhoon apparently cites Race for the proposition that the testimony here was erroneously admitted because it constituted expert testimony on the meaning of the Medicare regulations in relation to whether claiming the advertising costs as outreach was unlawful. However, the government offered Hoffman's testimony about Shackelford's statements not for the truth of Shackelford's statements, but to prove that Calhoon was on notice that there was reason to question the propriety of his actions. Therefore, the testimony was not hearsay and was relevant to whether Calhoon had knowingly filed false claims. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(c); United States v. Gold, 743 F.2d 800, 817-18 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1217, 105 S.Ct. 1196, 84 L.Ed.2d 341 (1985) (where former employees testified that they had put their superiors on notice that there was reason to question whether the company's billing practices were in compliance with the law, court held the testimony relevant because it established that the conspirators had reason to know that their activities were illegal). 87 On whether the probative value was outweighed by an unfair prejudice, this court defers to the discretion of the trial court. United States v. Elkins, 885 F.2d 775, 784 (11th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1005, 110 S.Ct. 1300, 108 L.Ed.2d 477 (1990). We will reverse the trial court's decision to admit the testimony only if it were clearly an abuse of discretion. We find none here. The trial court instructed the jury regarding the limited purpose for which the testimony was offered. Moreover, in light of our conclusion that collapsing the advertising accounts into one category called outreach resulted in a false statement, we see no unfair prejudice that could have come from the challenged testimony. 88