Opinion ID: 20108
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the challenges to the admission of evidence

Text: Richards argues that the district court abused its discretion in admitting Braugh’s testimony that he brought a dispute he had with Richards to the attention of the federal and state prosecutor’s offices in Fort Worth and Dallas, respectively. Richards contends that the district court should have excluded the testimony under Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, on the ground that “its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.” Braugh testified without objection that Richards asked him for $30,000 in January 1992. Braugh sent Richards three $10,000 checks. Braugh testified that Richards agreed not to cash those checks, but 25 merely to show them to anxious creditors to provide assurance. Instead, Richards cashed the checks, against Braugh’s instructions. Richards did object to Braugh’s testimony the following day, when Braugh told the jury that he reported his dispute with Richards over the three $10,000 checks to the local offices of the district attorney and the United States Attorney. The reports did not result in criminal charges against Richards. Braugh testified that he knew that by making the complaint, he was bringing his relationship with Richards to the attention of law enforcement agencies. The district court carefully limited Braugh’s testimony about his dispute with Richards and carefully instructed the jury as to how they could consider the limited testimony admitted. The court did not permit Braugh to present the details of his disagreement with Richards over the checks. Instead, the court limited Braugh’s testimony to the fact that he had a dispute with Richards, which he later reported. The court included Braugh’s letters to the prosecutors detailing the dispute as part of the record, but did not admit the letters at the trial.5 The district court found that the testimony had narrow, but significant, probative value. The 5 In the letters, Braugh reported a dispute with Richards and another man named Ron Cravens. According to Braugh, the dispute arose after Richards endorsed the checks to Cravens so that Cravens could cash the checks. However, the checks were postdated. Cravens contacted Braugh and threatened to sue for the amount of the checks. Braugh placed a stop payment order on the checks. When Cravens attempted to cash the checks, the bank returned them unpaid. Cravens continued to threaten Braugh with suit on the checks. Braugh ultimately wrote letters to law enforcement agencies to report the dispute, claiming that Richards and Cravens were “working together in an attempt to extort th[e] money from me by threatening me with prosecution.” 26 fact that Braugh reported the dispute to law enforcement tended to support his contention that he did not believe that he and Richards were parties to an unlawful conspiracy. The district court reasoned that Braugh would be unlikely to take any action that could lead to law enforcement investigating his relationship with Richards if he believed that their relationship was criminal. The district court gave the jury the following instructions about Braugh’s limited testimony: Let me explain to the jury what’s happening. I’m going to let Mr. Braugh testify about this matter, this dispute that he had with Mr. Richards. The nature of the dispute is not really that relevant in this case, and you are not going to be asked to decide whether Mr. Richards was right in this dispute or Mr. Braugh was right in this dispute, I’m letting the fact that Mr. Braugh brought the dispute to the attention of law enforcement agencies be admitted into evidence because you may decide that it’s relevant to Mr. Braugh’s state of mind, in that, if Mr. Braugh believed that his dealings with Mr. Richards that we have been hearing in this case were illegal. He may not have wanted law enforcement officials to learn of his dealings with Mr. Richards. So that’s the only reason I am letting this come into evidence. The exact dispute, who’s right and wrong in the dispute, is not relevant. Only the fact that Mr. Braugh’s state of mind was such that he was willing to bring the nature of the dispute to law enforcement officials in 1992. Richards argues that Braugh’s testimony lacked probative value. Because “the dispute was totally unrelated to the charged offenses,” Braugh would not have been concerned that his complaint would trigger an investigation into his relationship with Richards, and the fact of the report did not tend to show that Braugh viewed his relationship with Richards as lawful. Richards also argues that the evidence of Braugh’s reports of his dispute with Richards was cumulative of other evidence showing that Braugh and Richards had a “falling out.” Richards asserts that the probative value was 27 minimal and the prejudicial effect significant, given the facial similarity between Braugh’s accusations and the conduct alleged in the indictment. This court reviews the district court’s ruling for an abuse of discretion. See Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 174 n. 1 (1997); United States v. Ismoila, 100 F.3d 380, 391 (5th Cir. 1996). “The exclusion of evidence under Rule 403 should occur only sparingly.” United States v. Pace, 10 F.3d 1106, 1115 (5th Cir. 1993). The “major function [of Rule 403] is limited to excluding matter of scant or cumulative probative force, dragged in the by the heels for the sake of its prejudicial effect.” Id. at 1116(quoting United States v, McRae, 593 F.2d 700, 707 (5th Cir. 1979)). Contrary to Richards’ argument, the evidence admitted did have the probative value defined in the trial judge’s limiting instructions. The district court did not admit Braugh’s testimony for the purpose of establishing that his report about Richards to law enforcement agencies was true or to show that he and Richards had a dispute. The court instead admitted the fact of Braugh’s reports of a dispute with Richards as evidence bearing only on Braugh’s contention that he did not believe that he and Richards were parties to a criminal conspiracy. As the government notes, both Braugh’s and Richards’ attorneys discussed the testimony in their closing arguments, demonstrating its probative value. Nor was Braugh’s testimony so prejudicial as to make its admission, with the district court’s limiting instructions, improper. When Braugh testified that Richards attempted to cash the 28 checks despite his agreement with Braugh not to do so, Richards did not object.6 Richards did not object until the following day, when Braugh testified that he reported the disagreement over the checks to law enforcement agencies. The district court’s detailed limiting instruction carefully defined the purpose for which the 6 “Under the plain error standard, forfeited errors are subject to review only where they are ‘obvious,’ ‘clear,’ or ‘readily apparent,’ and they affect the defendants substantial rights.” United States v. Richardson, 168 F.3d 836, 839 n. 9 (5th Cir.)(quoting United States v. Calverley, 37 F.3d 160, 162 (5th Cir. 1994)(en banc), abrogated in part by Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461 (1997)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S. Ct. 1589 (1999). “Even then, we will not exercise our discretion to correct the forfeited errors unless they ‘seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceeding.’” Richardson, 168 F.3d at 839 n. 9 (quoting Calverley, 37 F.3d at 164). Braugh testified as follows about Richards’ cashing the checks: Q: . . . [W]hat did Al Richards say he needed money for? A: That he had some expenses and some obligations that were due and he needed that money, or, he needed a check from – a check or a series of checks from me to hold as good faith against those debts. Q: . . . [W]hat was your understanding Al Richards was going to do with the money if you sent him the funds? A: Well, I understood at the time that he was going to hold these checks. .... Q: ... [D]id you learn whether or not ultimately or at some later date whether or not these checks had in fact been cashed? A: I did learn later on they had been cashed. Even if we were to assume that this testimony was “clearly” inadmissible under Rule 403, as Richards urges on appeal, Richards has not shown plain error. He has not shown that the error affected his substantial rights — that is, “affect[ed] the outcome of the proceeding” — much less that the error “seriously affect[ed] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of [the] judicial proceeding[].” Calverley, 37 F.3d at 164. 29 jury could consider the testimony and mitigated the potential for undue prejudice. See United States v. Bailey, 111 F.3d 1229, 1234 (5th Cir. 1997). In light of the court’s strict limits on Braugh’s testimony and instructions limiting the jury’s consideration of the testimony, the district court did not err in admitting this evidence.
In rebuttal, and over objections, the government called a witness named Mark McMillan to testify about investments he made through Braugh and Latrasse in 1987 and 1988. These objections are reasserted on appeal. McMillan testified that he met Braugh in late 1987. Braugh was working from an office in the church to which McMillan belonged, trying to help the financially troubled church raise money. Braugh proposed an investment to McMillan to help solve the church’s financial problems. Braugh explained that he “had some kind of bank letter of credit, foreign bank letter of credit deal going where some bank was going to loan him $10 million imminently.” Braugh told McMillan that $15,000 would make “the deal” work. Braugh promised that if McMillan invested the $15,000, Braugh would receive $10 million from the European bank; would loan $800,000 to the church; would return $15,000 to McMillan within a few days; and would pay McMillan an additional $15,000. McMillan gave Braugh the $15,000. Neither McMillan nor the church received any money from Braugh. 30 McMillan next saw Braugh several months later, at the offices of Butler Industries. McMillan was there to see the company president, a close personal friend. Braugh was using an office at the company, working to raise money for the financially-troubled business. Braugh proposed another investment opportunity to McMillan. Braugh explained that he had succeeded in securing a $10 million loan from a European bank. The money had been wired and placed in a holding account, but Braugh needed $25,000 to release the funds. Braugh promised that if McMillan invested the $25,000, Braugh would pay him $50,000 before the close of the same business day; would pay the $30,000 owed from the first investment; would loan money to Butler Industries; and would loan the church the money he had promised earlier. Braugh told McMillan that the transactions would take place through a company called Gold Cloud Development.7 If the $10 million was not paid as expected, Gold Cloud Development would invest McMillan’s money in a movie through a company called San Francisco Productions. Braugh told McMillan that Kurt Latrasse was in charge of both the loan from the European bank and the movie deal and that Braugh was acting at Latrasse’s direction. McMillan testified that, despite suspicions, he decided to give Braugh the $25,000. On April 14, 1988, McMillan had his office manager draft a document to record the promised transactions. In this document, Braugh and Latrasse, referred to 7 Roger Braugh testified that the Gold Cloud Development Corporation referred to in connection with this transaction was not the same Gold Cloud Development Corporation that was involved in the roll program, of which he was the chairman. 31 as “Borrower,” promised to pay McMillan $50,000 from: (1) “proceeds received on the Roger Braugh/Gold Cloud Development Project (expected loan of $10,000,000.00)”; (2) “proceeds received on the San Francisco Productions Project (expected loan of $10,000,000.00)”; or (3) “other sources as deemed necessary by Borrower.” McMillan’s staff also drafted a personal guarantee for signature by Braugh and Latrasse individually. McMillan told Braugh that he would pay the $25,000 only after Braugh and Latrasse signed the documents. McMillan testified that he spoke by telephone to a man identified as Kurt Latrasse after the documents had been faxed to Latrasse: A: . . . . [W]e got him on the telephone in his motel room. Q: Who is the “we,” who got him on the telephone? A: Me and Roger Braugh and Robert Cohen, the president of Butler Industries. Q: And who is the “him” that you got on the phone? A: Kurt Latrasse. Q: And what makes you think you had Kurt Latrasse on the telephone? A: He said he was Kurt Latrasse. They dialed the hotel -- I mean, I was told that they were calling Kurt Latrasse. The man got on the phone, said he was Kurt Latrasse. He got the documents. He said he read the documents. He said he was signing them. He said he could not get them notarize [sic] because his secretary was gone to lunch or his notary was gone to lunch, and he signed it, supposedly, they faxed it back to me. I looked at it, I verified the signature, then I paid the money. Later that day, Roger Braugh faxed McMillan the “loan document,” signed “Kurt Latrasse” and “Roger S. Braugh,” and the personal 32 guarantee, signed “Roger S. Braugh.” On the fax cover sheet, Braugh wrote: “Kurt’s personal guarantee will be here tomorrow because the notary left before we sent the last document to him.” McMillan did not see Braugh again after that day. He received none of his money back and neither the church nor Butler Industries received a loan. McMillan filed no complaint and made no attempt to recover the money.
Braugh argues that the admission of McMillan’s testimony violated Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence because the transactions McMillan described were remote in time from, and dissimilar to, the transactions charged in the indictment. Braugh also argues that, even if the evidence was relevant, its marginal probative value was substantially outweighed by the highly prejudicial impact. In response, the government argues that the McMillan transactions had substantial similarities to the transactions charged in the indictment, making the evidence highly probative of Braugh’s intent. Braugh put his intent squarely in issue, making McMillan’s testimony important rebuttal evidence. The district court instructed the jury that they were to consider the testimony only on the issue of intent. The district court’s decision to admit Rule 404(b) evidence is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Chavez, 119 F.3d 342, 346 (5th Cir. 1997). This review is “necessarily heightened” in criminal cases. United States v. Gonzalez, 76 F.3d 1339, 1347 (5th Cir. 1996)(quoting United States v. Anderson, 933 33 F.2d 1261, 1268 (5th Cir. 1991)). The probative value of the evidence, the need for the evidence by the government on the issue of intent, and the court’s limiting instructions are all considered in determining if the court properly admitted the testimony under Rule 404(b).8 A trial court must apply the test set out in United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898, 911 (5th Cir. 1978)(en banc), in determining whether to admit extrinsic evidence under Rule 404(b). Careful application of the Beechum test protects defendants from unfair prejudice in the admission of extrinsic act evidence. See Anderson, 933 F.2d at 1268. The first step of the Beechum test is to determine that the extrinsic offense evidence is relevant to an issue other than the defendant’s character. The second step is to determine whether the evidence satisfies Rule 403. See Beechum, 582 F.2d at 911. The relevance of extrinsic act evidence “is a function of its similarity to the offense charged.” Id. When the evidence is admitted to show the defendant’s intent to commit the offense charged, “the relevancy of the extrinsic offense derives from the defendant’s indulging himself in the same state of mind in the perpetration of both the extrinsic and charged offenses.” Id. 8 Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. 34 “The reasoning is that because the defendant had unlawful intent in the extrinsic offense, it is less likely that he had lawful intent in the present offense.” Id. An extrinsic offense is relevant to the issue of intent only if “an offense was in fact committed and the defendant in fact committed it.” Id. at 912. The proponent of the evidence need not establish these facts by a preponderance of the evidence; rather, “the evidence in the case must be sufficient to permit a jury, acting reasonably, to find the preliminary facts by a preponderance of the evidence.” Anderson, 933 F.2d at 1269. “Once it is determined that the extrinsic offense requires the same intent as the charged offense and that the jury could find that the defendant committed the extrinsic offense, the evidence satisfies the first step under rule 404(b).” Beechum, 582 F.2d at 913. As to Braugh, McMillan’s testimony satisfies the first part of the Beechum test. McMillan’s testimony, if believed, would permit a reasonable jury to find by a preponderance of the evidence that Braugh committed fraud in both of the McMillan transactions, involving the same intent as the offenses charged in the indictment. In performing the second part of the Beechum test,“the task for the court . . . calls for a commonsense assessment of all the circumstances surrounding the extrinsic offense.” Id. Several factors affect the probative value of the evidence, including “the extent to which the defendant’s unlawful intent is established by other evidence, the overall similarity of the extrinsic and charged offenses, and the amount of time that separates the extrinsic and charged offenses.” Chavez, 119 F.3d at 346-47. 35 McMillan’s testimony was highly probative as to Braugh’s intent. “The mere entry of a not guilty plea in a conspiracy case raises the issue of intent sufficiently to justify the admissibility of extrinsic offense evidence.” United States v. Broussard, 80 F.3d 1025, 1039 (5th Cir. 1996). In this case, the core of Braugh’s defense was that he lacked the intent to defraud. Braugh testified, and his attorney argued, that Braugh believed the “roll program” was a legitimate investment. The government had no direct evidence of Braugh’s fraudulent intent. Braugh’s arguments as to the dissimilarity between the McMillan transactions and those described in the indictment are without merit. Braugh twice induced McMillan to give him money by describing investments that would result in a European bank paying $10 million to Braugh, yielding McMillan a substantial return in a very short time with no risk of losing his money. The first of the two transactions involved a letter of credit. The “roll program” transactions involved promises that the investors’ payments would enable Braugh and the other defendants to obtain a $10 million letter of credit from a foreign bank, which would return the investors’ money, plus interest and large profits, in a very short time. Braugh told McMillan that Latrasse was in charge of the investments proposed in the second transaction, just as he would later tell the “roll program” victims that Latrasse was the expert in that investment plan. The three to five years between the McMillan transactions and the later charged offenses does not so diminish the probative value of the evidence as to make it inadmissible. Cf. United States v. Hernandez-Guevara, 162 F.3d 36 863, 872–73 (5th Cir. 1998)(affirming district court’s admission of an 18-year-old conviction under Rule 404(b) to show intent), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S. Ct. 1375 (1999); Chavez, 119 F.3d at 346-47(affirming district court’s admission of a 15-year-old prior conviction under Rule 404(b) to show intent). The district court instructed the jury on the limited purpose for which McMillan’s testimony could be considered: You are going to hear evidence that you may conclude is similar to the acts of Defendants Braugh and Latrasse that are charged in the indictment but that occurred on different occasions than those alleged in the indictment. You must not consider any of the evidence that you are about to hear in deciding if Mr. Braugh or Mr. Latrasse committed the acts charged in the indictment. However, you may consider the evidence for other very limited purposes. If you find beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence you have heard up to now that Mr. Braugh or Mr. Latrasse committed the acts charged against them in the indictment, then you may consider the evidence that you are about to hear to determine whether Mr. Braugh or Mr. Latrasse had the state of mind or intent necessary to commit the crimes charged against them in the indictment. That is the only purpose for which you may consider the evidence that you are about to hear. The district court repeated this admonition in his final instructions to the jury. “[T]he danger of unfair prejudice was minimized by the district court’s careful instructions to the jury.” Gonzalez, 76 F.3d at 1348. The high degree of probative value of McMillan’s testimony, balanced against the danger of unfair prejudice the testimony raised, in light of the limiting instructions, leads to the conclusion that the district court acted well within its discretion in admitting the testimony over Braugh’s Rule 404(b) objection. 37 Braugh’s argument that McMillan’s testimony was improper “guilt-by-association” evidence is similarly without merit.9 “It is well established . . . that the government may not attempt to prove a defendant’s guilt by showing that [the defendant] associates with ‘unsavory characters.’” United States v. Polasek, 162 F.3d 878, 884 (5th Cir. 1998). McMillan’s testimony did not suffer from this defect. McMillan testified about Braugh’s acts and statements in inducing McMillan to make the two “investments.” The testimony focused on Braugh’s own conduct. It did not merely show that Braugh associated with Latrasse. See id. at 885(distinguishing between evidence showing extrinsic wrongdoing on defendant’s part, which might be admissible to show knowledge or intent under Rule 404(b), and evidence showing the defendant associated with people who were later convicted of an offense similar to the charged offense, which would be inadmissible guiltby-association evidence). The district court did not err on this basis in admitting McMillan’s testimony. 2. Latrasse’s Challenges to McMillan’s Testimony Latrasse challenges McMillan’s testimony as inadmissible, both because it failed the Rule 404(b) criteria and because parts of McMillan’s testimony were hearsay as to Latrasse. 9 Braugh concedes that he did not object to McMillan’s testimony specifically on the ground that it was “guilt-byassociation” evidence. However, he argues that, based on the record, his Rule 404(b) objection suffices to preserve this argument on appeal. Of course, if Braugh did not timely object to McMillan’s testimony on this ground, the plain error standard would apply. See Polasek, 162 F.3d at 883-84. We conclude that McMillan’s testimony was not inadmissible “guilt-by-association” evidence even under the abuse of discretion standard. 38 Latrasse challenges the sufficiency of the evidence showing that “an offense was in fact committed and the defendant in fact committed it.” Beechum, 582 F.2d at 913. Specifically, Latrasse argues that McMillan’s testimony was insufficient to show that Latrasse was involved with Braugh in the second McMillan transaction. To determine whether there was sufficient evidence to satisfy the first part of the Beechum test, Latrasse’s hearsay objection must first be addressed. The statements Latrasse objects to would, if admissible, form part of the evidence showing Latrasse’s involvement. Latrasse objected under Rule 802 to McMillan’s testimony that Braugh described Latrasse as the person in charge of the investment, who was giving Braugh direction. The district court admitted McMillan’s testimony against Latrasse under Rule 801(d)(2)(D), which defines statements of an agent or employee of the defendant as non-hearsay. Latrasse challenges the district court’s ruling.10 An out-of-court statement of a declarant is not hearsay if “[t]he statement is offered against a party and is . . . a statement by the party’s agent or employee, made during the existence of the relationship.” FED. R. EVID. 801(d)(2)(D). The proponent of the evidence must prove the preliminary facts that bring the statement within Rule 801(d)(2)(D), by a preponderance of 10 Braugh’s out-of-court statements about Latrasse were only arguably offered for the truth of the matters asserted in them. However, because the government did not make this argument at trial or on appeal, we do not rest our resolution of the issue on this ground. 39 the evidence. See United States v. Bourjaily, 483 U.S. 171, 174 (1987). The statement itself may be considered in making this determination. See id. However, “[t]he contents of the statement . . . are not alone sufficient to establish . . . the agency or employment relationship and scope thereof under subdivision (D) . . . .” FED. R. EVID. 801(d)(2). McMillan testified that Braugh told him “over and over and over that Kurt Latrasse was the man in charge” of the Gold Cloud Development and San Francisco Productions investments. McMillan also testified that Braugh said “he was basically acting as an agent for Kurt Latrasse.” These statements provided the only evidence of Latrasse’s role as principal and Braugh’s as agent in the second transaction Braugh proposed to McMillan. Neither the loan document bearing Latrasse’s signature nor the circumstances under which Latrasse signed it provide proof that Braugh was acting as Latrasse’s agent. In light of the lack of evidence to corroborate Braugh’s out-of-court statements that he was acting as an agent for Latrasse, Rule 801(d)(2)(D) cannot serve as the basis for the admission of these statements against Latrasse. However, even if McMillan’s testimony should not have been admitted against Latrasse under Rule 801(d)(2)(D), other grounds for admission remove any harmful error. See United States v. Lopez, 979 F.2d 1024, 1033 (5th Cir. 1992). The government urges that the testimony was admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(E), which takes an out-of-court statement outside the hearsay rule if the statement “is offered against a party and is . . . a statement by a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of 40 the conspiracy.” FED. R. EVID. 801(d)(2)(E). Although the indictment did not allege an earlier conspiracy in connection with the McMillan transactions, “the conspiracy that forms the basis for admitting coconspirators’ statements need not be the same conspiracy for which the defendant is indicted.” United States v. Arce, 997 F.2d 1123, 1128 (5th Cir. 1993). Before admitting evidence under Rule 801(d)(2)(E), the proponent must “establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the declarant and the defendant were involved in a conspiracy and that the statements were made during and in furtherance of the conspiracy.” United States v. Broussard, 80 F.3d 1025, 1038 (5th Cir. 1996); see also Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 175-76. Under Rule 104(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, a court “is not bound by the rules of evidence except those with respect to privileges” in determining the existence of preliminary facts to support the admission of evidence. See also Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 178. The out-of-court statement itself may be considered in determining the existence of the conspiracy and other preliminary facts. See id. at 177–81; FED. R. EVID. 801(d)(2). However, the out-of-court statement alone is not sufficient to support its own admission. See FED. R. EVID. 801(d)(2). Braugh made the statements as part of his efforts to induce McMillan to give him money a second time. There is sufficient evidence to show that Braugh and Latrasse conspired in this effort to defraud McMillan. The trial record included the following evidence that Braugh and Latrasse were parties to such a conspiracy: 41 • McMillan testified that Braugh told him “over and over again that Latrasse was in charge” of the Gold Cloud Development transaction and the San Francisco Production movie deal. • McMillan testified that Braugh said that “he was basically acting as an agent for Kurt Latrasse.” C After McMillan refused to give Braugh any money unless Latrasse signed a loan document and personal guarantee drafted by McMillan’s staff, those documents were faxed to Latrasse. • Braugh and McMillan telephoned the hotel where Latrasse was staying. They were connected to a man who identified himself as Kurt Latrasse. That man stated that he had received the documents that McMillan’s staff drafted and was signing them. C Braugh faxed McMillan the loan document bearing a signature purporting to be that of Kurt Latrasse. • The signature of Kurt Latrasse was very similar to Latrasse’s signature on other documents previously admitted as evidence in the trial. This evidence shows the predicate facts making Braugh’s statements about Latrasse admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(e). The record discloses sufficient evidence to show by a preponderance of the evidence that Latrasse and Braugh conspired to defraud McMillan. Braugh’s out-of-court statements in furtherance of the conspiracy were admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. In light of this determination, we return to the first part of the Beechum test to consider whether McMillan’s testimony was admissible against Latrasse under Rule 404(b). Under the circumstances presented in this case, there was sufficient evidence to permit a rational jury to find that Latrasse committed an offense involving fraud for the purpose of the Beechum analysis. 42 McMillan’s testimony also satisfies Rule 403, the second part of the Beechum test. Latrasse placed his intent at issue by testifying that he believed the “roll program” was legitimate. The evidence of the second McMillan transaction was probative rebuttal evidence, particularly given the similarity between Latrasse’s role in the extrinsic offense and his role in the charged offenses. Braugh described Latrasse to McMillan as the person in charge of the proposed investments; later, Latrasse was presented to the roll program investors as the expert in such transactions. In both schemes, when an investor expressed concern or doubt, Latrasse was called in to provide reassurance. McMillan’s testimony was probative on the issue of Latrasse’s intent. The district court gave a careful limiting instruction to the jury, minimizing the prejudicial impact of McMillan’s testimony. See Gonzalez, 76 F. 3d at 1348. Balancing the probative value against the danger of unfair prejudice in light of the limiting instruction, the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting McMillan’s testimony against Latrasse over his Rule 404(b) objection. Moreover, even if McMillan’s testimony was inadmissible, the error was, on this record, harmless. See United States v. Cornett, 195 F.3d 776, 784 (5th Cir. 1999). The erroneous admission of McMillan’s testimony would require reversal of Latrasse’s conviction only if the evidence had a “substantial impact” on the verdict. See United States v. Dickey, 102 F. 3d 157, 163 (5th Cir. 1996); United States v. El-Zoubi, 993 F.2d 442, 446 (5th Cir. 1993). The trial record discloses ample evidence of Latrasse’s guilt. The evidence shows that Latrasse repeatedly provided Hayes, 43 Schwinger, and Blackwelder assurances as to the legitimacy and profitability of the roll program long after he knew that the money had not been invested as promised and was not producing the promised returns. The record shows that Latrasse gave the investors detailed and varying explanations, promises, and excuses long after the investors’ money had already been disbursed to the defendants, including Latrasse. In the context of the ample evidence of Latrasse’s criminal intent in the record, McMillan’s testimony did not have a “substantial impact” on the jury verdict so as to require reversal.