Opinion ID: 2796506
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: DeMarco’s Conviction

Text: Challenging his conviction, DeMarco argues the district court made two erroneous evidentiary rulings which substantially prejudiced his defense. We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion, United States v. Neighbors, 590 F.3d 485, 496 (7th Cir. 2009), subject to a harmless error analysis. United States v. Thornton, 642 F.3d 599, 604 (7th Cir. 2011); Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). To determine whether an evidentiary error is harmless, we consider whether, to the average juror, the prosecution’s case would have been significantly less persuasive absent the error. Thornton, 642 F.3d at 605 (citing United States v. Cooper, 591 F.3d 582, 590 (7th Cir. 2010)).
DeMarco first argues that the district court wrongfully prohibited him from introducing a prior inconsistent statement that Suarez made to Agent McCune. The purported inconsistency is this: Suarez told Agent McCune during an investigatory interview that DeMarco promised him that a “builder” was interested in purchasing his property, yet Suarez testified at trial that DeMarco identified Chase Bank as the buyer. In response to defense counsel’s questioning on cross-examination, Suarez denied ever telling Agent McCune that DeMarco identified a builder as the party interested in purchasing his property. Following the completion of Suarez’s testimony, DeMarco sought to elicit testimony from Agent McCune regarding Suarez’s prior inconsistent statement. The government objected and the district court sustained the objection, deeming Agent McCune’s proposed testimony to be extrinsic No. 14-1526 9 evidence on a collateral issue and thus inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b). Pursuant to Rule 608(b), “extrinsic evidence is not admissible to prove specific instances of a witness’s conduct in order to attack or support the witness’s character for truthfulness.” But the rule permits extrinsic evidence to be admitted for other reasons, such as to show bias, contradiction, or inconsistent statements. United States v. McGee, 408 F.3d 966, 982 (7th Cir. 2005). Indeed, Rule 613(b) expressly permits the use of extrinsic evidence to impeach a witness. It states in relevant part: Extrinsic evidence of a witness’s prior inconsistent statement is admissible only if the witness is given an opportunity to explain or deny the statement and an adverse party is given an opportunity to examine the witness about it, or if justice so requires. Fed. R. Evid. 613(b). DeMarco specifically asked Suarez about the prior inconsistent statement he made to Agent McCune, thus providing Suarez an opportunity to explain or deny the statement. Suarez denied making the statement to Agent McCune. Pursuant to Rule 613(b), DeMarco was then entitled to elicit testimony from Agent McCune regarding Suarez’s prior inconsistent statements in order to perfect impeachment. Accordingly, the district court erred in prohibiting DeMarco from impeaching Suarez under 608(b). Even though we conclude that the district court’s evidentiary ruling was erroneous, we will reverse and order a new trial only if the error was not harmless. United States v. Boros, 668 F.3d 901, 910 (7th Cir. 2012); see also Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). 10 No. 14-1526 Given the evidence presented in support of conviction, DeMarco cannot establish that the government’s case would have been significantly less persuasive to the jury had DeMarco been able to perfect the impeachment of Suarez. DeMarco admitted to the key aspects of the fraud in his trial testimony and statements to law enforcement. At trial, DeMarco admitted that he convinced Suarez that he needed a HELOC to consummate the sale of his property, that he caused the HELOC proceeds to be deposited into accounts which he controlled, and that he spent nearly all the HELOC proceeds on himself and his family. The jury also heard Agent McCune’s testimony that DeMarco admitted during a pre-trial interview that he lied to Suarez when he told him that an unidentified builder was willing to purchase his property. Although DeMarco denied making this admission at trial, he admitted to lying to Agent McCune when first approached about his fraudulent activities and to fabricating his educational background on an Internet employment profile (LinkedIn). Moreover, aside from DeMarco’s own testimony, the record does not contain a shred of evidence from which it could be inferred that DeMarco’s purported buyer was anything but fictitious. For these reasons, the jury plainly rejected DeMarco’s selfserving testimony and determined that he lied to Suarez about having a buyer for the property. DeMarco argues that Suarez’s identification of Chase Bank as the purported purchaser, as opposed to some unidentified builder, made it more likely that a jury would find his representations fraudulent since it is common knowledge that Chase Bank is not in the business of purchasing property. This argument is not the least bit persuasive. Irrespective of No. 14-1526 11 DeMarco’s unsupported claim regarding how widespread the knowledge of Chase Bank’s involvement in the real estate market is, the identity of the individual or entity that DeMarco promised would buy Suarez’s property is not germane to the central question of whether or not DeMarco defrauded Suarez. The fact remains that the jury did not believe that DeMarco had any willing buyer—Chase Bank, an unidentified builder, developer, or otherwise—for the property. DeMarco also argues that the district court’s decision to preclude testimony regarding Suarez’s aforementioned prior inconsistent statement “shut down any opportunity” to raise other prior inconsistent statements that Suarez made to law enforcement. Although DeMarco alludes to multiple inconsistencies, he only identifies one concretely. He contends that but for the district court’s erroneous ruling, he would have been able to elicit testimony from Agent McCune regarding Suarez’s prior statement that he willingly participated in the HELOC application, with the understanding that DeMarco was securing the HELOC to consolidate his debt and facilitate the development of his property. At no point in DeMarco’s lengthy cross-examination of Suarez did he ask Suarez about this prior inconsistent statement. Thus, even if DeMarco had sought to impeach Suarez through Agent McCune’s testimony, that extrinsic evidence would have been properly precluded under Rule 613(b) since Suarez had not been given an opportunity to explain or deny the statement. See, e.g., United States v. Johnson, 956 F.2d 460, 465 (7th Cir. 1992); Gong v. Hirsch, M.D., 913 F.2d 1269, 1274 (7th Cir. 1990); United States v. Elliot, 771 F.2d 1046, 1051 (7th Cir. 1985). 12 No. 14-1526
Information Invoking Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(1)(E)(i), DeMarco argues that the district court abused its discretion in permitting Agent McCune to testify to information contained in a redacted portion of the HELOC agreement (“Government Exhibit Line of Credit Records”). We outline the relevant facts below. In 2010, approximately two years prior to trial, the government provided DeMarco with discovery pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16. Included with this discovery was a redacted copy of the HELOC agreement that Suarez entered into with Bank of America for $250,000. The version of the HELOC agreement turned over to DeMarco listed the borrower’s name as “Michael Suarez” but had the borrower’s address redacted. In an unredacted version of this document, the borrower’s address is listed as 235 Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills, Illinois—the address of the Chase Bank where DeMarco worked. During DeMarco’s cross-examination of Suarez, defense counsel asked Suarez whether everything in the HELOC agreement was listed under his name and address. After Suarez confirmed this to be the case, defense counsel asked Suarez if he recalled receiving notifications concerning where the HELOC proceeds had been disbursed. Suarez denied receiving any such notifications and went on to testify that the address listed as the borrower’s address on the HELOC agreement was the address of the Chase Bank where DeMarco worked. Following the completion of Suarez’s testimony, No. 14-1526 13 defense counsel requested, for the first time, that the government provide him with an unredacted copy of the HELOC agreement. The government located an unredacted copy of the agreement and showed it to defense counsel. The government then called Agent McCune to the stand. The government asked Agent McCune to disclose the address that appeared in the redacted portion of the HELOC agreement in order to rebut the implication that Suarez’s address was listed as the borrower’s address and to corroborate Suarez’s testimony that he had not received notifications regarding distribution of the HELOC proceeds. DeMarco objected and, following a lengthy exchange between the district court and defense counsel, the court permitted Agent McCune to testify that the address listed as the borrower’s address in the redacted portion of the HELOC agreement was indeed the address of the Chase Bank where DeMarco worked. DeMarco claims that the government violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(1)(E)(i) by using the redacted information in its case-in-chief, since he was not provided with an unredacted copy beforehand. But DeMarco was provided with a redacted copy of the agreement more than two years before the start of trial and at no point during that period did he request an unredacted version. Since DeMarco intended to argue at trial that Suarez’s address appeared on the HELOC agreement as the borrower’s address, he should have requested an unredacted copy of the agreement to confirm that this fact was supported by the evidence. By failing to do so, DeMarco proceeded at his own peril. Indeed, defense counsel twice admitted during the post-objection colloquy with the district court that it was his “mistake” that he did not seek to 14 No. 14-1526 obtain an unredacted copy of the HELOC agreement during his trial preparation. DeMarco cannot fail to use due diligence and then, after eliciting incriminating testimony, seek to argue that the government violated its discovery obligations. Moreover, it is hard to see how DeMarco could have been “unduly surprised” with respect to the redacted information since he completed the HELOC documents and supplied the address.