Opinion ID: 691307
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: western union money transfer records

Text: 35 Both Campbell and Mitchell challenge the trial court's admission of certain Western Union money transfer records (records) under a combination of the business records and co-conspirator statement exceptions to the hearsay rule. See FED.R.EVID. 803(6) & 801(d)(2)(E). The district court admitted eighty-four of these records that identified as either the sender or recipient an individual connected in some way to the conspiracy. Though the district court shifted its analysis of the admissibility of these records over the course of the trial, its final analysis appears to have been that the recipients' names on these documents were verified and thus within the business records exception, and that the senders' names were admissible as co-conspirator statements made by the recipients in signing for the money. 36 Campbell objects to the admission of forty-two of the records, Mitchell to three of them bearing his name as the sender or receiver. Two additional records bearing Mitchell's name as the sender were admitted along with testimony from Abujudeh that he sent the money using Mitchell's name. Mitchell does not challenge the admission of these records. We address the two defendants' claims together. 37 The business records exception to the hearsay rule authorizes the admission of records made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, ... unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness. FED.R.EVID. 803(6). If the records contain information obtained from a customer, thus constituting hearsay within hearsay, the information will come within the business records exception only if it is shown that [the business's] standard practice was to verify the information provided by [the] customer. United States v. Patrick, 959 F.2d 991, 1001 (D.C.Cir.1992). 38 In this case, a Western Union employee testified that under Western Union's verification procedures, the sender's identity is not verified at all. In order to receive funds, however, the recipient must either show identification or answer a test question given by the sender. If the transfer is for more than $500, the recipient must also match a physical description given by the sender in order to receive the funds without providing identification. The district court found that the test question and identification requirements each constituted adequate verification of the recipient's identity. We are more dubious than the district court that the test question procedure adequately verifies the actual identity of the recipient. It seems to prove that the recipient is the sender's intended recipient, not that he actually bears the name presented. 39 Upon examination of the Western Union records admitted, however, we conclude that any possible error was harmless. The Western Union custodian of records testified that if a test question were used, that would be indicated on the record. Tr. 922-23, 942-43, 946, 956. Of the 42 records to which Campbell objects, only five indicate that a test question was used (WU-40, WU-41, WU-61, WU-62, WU-108), and one of these further indicates that payee must have ID (WU-41). Thus, even if it was error to conclude that the test question procedure constituted adequate verification, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, because, in the end, it involved only four of the 84 records admitted. See United States v. Jordan, 810 F.2d 262, 264 (D.C.Cir.1987) (because admission of hearsay implicates the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause, errors must be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt). 40 Campbell also objects to the district court's basis for admitting the senders' names. After concluding that the recipients' names were admissible under the business records exception, the district court concluded that the senders' names were admissible as co-conspirator statements made by the recipients in the course of signing for the money. Campbell argues that there was insufficient evidence that many of the individuals named on the money transfer records were co-conspirators or that they were acting in furtherance of the conspiracy. Campbell Brief at 43. Campbell does not argue that this problem infected all the records to which he objects, and, with one exception, does not identify the particular records that he alleges were inadequately connected to the conspiracy. 4 41 When the government presented the argument that the senders' names could be admitted as co-conspirator statements, it withdrew certain Western Union records for which it felt there was inadequate evidence that the recipient was a co-conspirator. Tr. 5815. For each of the records that it subsequently sought to admit, the government maintained that the recipient was a co-conspirator and that the statement was made in furtherance of the conspiracy. See, e.g., Tr. 5821-22. The district court admitted the records on this theory, and required in each case evidence in the record that the recipients had either sold drugs or received money or that Mr. Campbell directed them to send the money or Mr. Campbell directed them to receive the money. Tr. 5824. Thus, the district court required a showing of the recipient's connection to the conspiracy before admitting the record. It is always possible that the district court may have inadvertently let in a few records for which there was an inadequate showing that the recipient was a co-conspirator, receiving money in furtherance of the conspiracy, but its general approach was certainly appropriate. In the absence of more particularized objections from Campbell, we find no error. 42 Mitchell only objected to the admission of three of the five records bearing his name. Two of these records identified Mitchell as the recipient and showed that no test question was used, so Mitchell's name was properly admitted under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. Tr. 946 (WU-9, WU-75). On the third, Mitchell was listed as the sender, so no verification was made. Mitchell argues his name was improperly admitted because the transfer documented in this record was inadequately related to the conspiracy. Although this may be true, testimony about the records in general diminished the impact of this record sufficiently to render any error in its admission harmless. In particular, the jury had (1) testimony from Abujudeh that he used Mitchell's name to make transfers in certain instances, and (2) testimony from a handwriting expert that he could not verify that the endorsement on one of the other records was actually Mitchell's. Thus, even if the record was improperly admitted, it did not add any significant weight to the already solid case against Mitchell. See Jordan, 810 F.2d at 265 (admission of hearsay harmless where, among other things, defendant was able to attenuate its impact by suggesting bias). Accordingly, we conclude that the admission of this Western Union record was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See id.