Opinion ID: 766590
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of the Estoppel Defense

Text: 28 Next, Defendant argues that he was unable to present certain affirmative defenses as a result of numerous rulings made by the district court. The cumulative effect of these rulings, according to Defendant, constitutes constitutional error, which must be overruled regardless of the propriety of the individual rulings. In support of this theory, Defendant cites the syllabus to Arizona v. Fulmimante, 499 U.S. 279, 280-81 (1991), which alludes to the legal doctrine dictating that due process is violated despite overwhelming evidence in support of a conviction when certain types of constitutional errors occur. We do not grant precedential authority to the syllabus of a Supreme Court decision. Defendant also cites Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 302 (1973), in support of the position that the failure to allow one to present one's defense is such a constitutional error. 29 In Chambers, however, the Supreme Court noted that the right to present one's defense is conditioned upon the accused . . . comply[ing] with established rules of procedure and evidence designed to assure both fairness and reliability in the ascertainment of guilt and innocence. Id. This caveat overcomes Defendant's argument since, to determine if a defendant has complied with established rules of evidence, the district court must have the ability to rule independently on each article of evidence. Assuming arguendo that denial of a defense by cumulative evidentiary rulings can constitute such a structural constitutional error, Defendant must show that, in each instance, the district court has abused its discretion in refusing to accept relevant evidence before determining that a due process violation has occurred. Defendant contests three evidentiary rulings: (1) the grant of the government's motion in limine; (2) the limitation of Defendant's expert's testimony; and (3) the exclusion of evidence regarding HBGN's trust powers. We find that none of these rulings constitute an abuse of the trial court's discretion.
30 The district court granted the government's motion in limine, which sought to preclude Defendant from presenting the argument that the 6141 Plan was not subject to Title I of ERISA under the decision in P.B.G.C. v. Wittek, because it found that Defendant's conclusions were wrong as a matter of law and presenting such a meritless argument would prove substantially more prejudicial than probative. Although a trial court's balancing of probative value and unfair prejudice is highly discretionary and its decision on admissibility will be accorded with 'great deference,' West v. Love, 776 F.2d 170, 174 (7th Cir. 1985), we will reverse if the trial court bases exclusion on an erroneous legal conclusion. See Finchum v. Ford Motor Co., 57 F.3d 526, 530 (7th Cir. 1995). Defendant's argument was based on the legal conclusion that a retroactive establishment of a termination date for an ERISA plan terminates the applicability of Title I of ERISA to that plan. As we have discussed, the district court correctly determined that this legal conclusion was in error. Lacking any error in law, we decline to reconsider the district court's determination of prejudice and conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the government's motion in limine.
31 The district court limited the expert testimony of Defendant's ERISA expert, Albert L. Grasso, on the ground that Grasso's conclusions were inaccurate as a matter of law . . . inherently misleading, not reasonably tied to the facts in evidence, and [the testimony] would not assist the Jury's understanding of the case. (R. 181). Grasso's omitted testimony related to his opinion that the 6141 Plan was no longer an ERISA plan since the employees were no longer employees within the meaning of ERISA as a result of the 1991 closure of the Pineville plant. As we stated above, the district court correctly ruled that this opinion was inaccurate as a matter of law. We refuse to reconsider the district court's determination of prejudice and find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in limiting Grasso's testimony.
32 Defendant wished to argue at trial that no wire fraud occurred because HBGN had full trust powers when the wire transfers at issue were made. Defendant supported his claim that HBGN had full trust powers with a statement made by Dean Miller, Senior Advisor to the Comptroller of Currency, who based his conclusions on a computer entry that indicated HBGN to have trust powers. Miller advised Defendant, however, that he would have to examine off-site records in order to verify the information. Instead of waiting for the information to be verified, Defendant sought to introduce the statement as evidence that HBGN had full trust powers. The district court reserved its ruling until the evidence could be verified. When the official file was obtained, the record showed no evidence to support the computer entry. In light of the official record and the testimony of HBGN witnesses who refused to allow the bank to act as trustee for the 6141 Plan, the district court refused to admit Defendant's copy of the computer record as evidence of a public record. On review, Defendant presents no explanation why this computer printout should have been admitted, and although we do not demand a formal offer of proof, the record must present some equivalent explanation of admissibility. United States v. Cleggett, 179 F.3d 1051, 1055 (7th Cir. 1999). Our review of the record has led us to determine that Defendant never provided a sufficient argument for the admission of the evidence in the face of the contradictory evidence. For this reason, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of HBGN's full trust powers.