Court Opinion

ID: 9490930
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:58:40.992761+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:23.925840
License: Public Domain

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
*1285I write separately to explain the interrelatedness of the progress payment and incurred costs concepts. A contractor is entitled to progress payments when it has incurred a cost. In turn, a contractor incurs a cost when it is obligated to pay for materials requested from a supplier. The facts demonstrate that Baird falsified documents to satisfy both of these requirements. That is, he back-dated the purchase order and falsified the invoices and receiving documents in order to have proof that he had incurred a cost, which would then entitle him to a progress payment. Despite this evidence, however, I agree with the majority that we must reverse Baird’s conviction because the district court’s instructions to the jury ignored this interrelatedness by failing to define the term “incurred costs.”