Opinion ID: 529953
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Residual Exception

Text: 79 Although the district court did not rely on Fed.R.Evid. 803(24) in admitting the FCCB/FFCM documents, the government argues that their admission was appropriate inasmuch as the residual exception provides an independent basis for the ruling. 20 80 We note at the outset that Fed.R.Evid. 803(24) is not limited in availability as to types of evidence not addressed in the other exceptions; Fed.R.Evid. 803(24) is also available when the proponent fails to meet the standards set forth in the other exceptions. Cf. In re Japanese Electronic Products, 723 F.2d at 301 (implicitly holding that Fed.R.Evid. 803(24) may be invoked when a proponent fails to establish admissibility under one of the other hearsay exceptions). 81 On appeal Furst maintains that the government failed to comply with the notice requirements 21 of Fed.R.Evid. 803(24), the final sentence of which provides that 82 a statement may not be admitted under this exception unless the proponent of it makes known to the adverse party sufficiently in advance of the trial or hearing to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet it, the proponent's intention to offer the statement and the particulars of it, including the name and address of the declarant. 83 The government argues that Furst waived this ground by not asserting it at trial. See brief of appellee at 29 n. 14. We find no merit to the government's position. 84 The district court observed in the sidebar discussion with reference to the admission of the FCCB/FFCM statements that the government had indicated at the pre-trial conference that it would not seek to admit the FCCB/FFCM statements. See Trial Transcript of Jan. 10, 1989, at 92-93; appellant's app. at 640-41. In addition, the government did not rely primarily on Rule 803(24) and the court did not rule on that basis. Inasmuch as only passing reference was made to the residual exception, and the district court implicitly indicated that no response was necessary we cannot conclude that Furst waived any objection to that ground by not objecting at that time. 85 In the absence of a waiver, we consider the merits of Furst's argument that the government did not comply with the notice requirements of Fed.R.Evid. 803(24). Although Furst had filed a motion to exclude the FCCB/FFCM records on December 22, 1988, the record indicates that the government did not respond until it served a memorandum on Furst's attorney on January 9, 1989, at the start of the trial. 22 Furst's memorandum addressed only the possibility that the government would rely on the business record exception when offering the FCCB/FFCM records. The government's response raised both the business record exception and the residual exception. Thus, the first reference to the residual exception was on the first day of trial, one day prior to the government's effort to introduce the records. On these facts we cannot conclude that the FCCB/FFCM records were admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 803(24).