Court Opinion

ID: 9475284
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:22:33.558159+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:37.416664
License: Public Domain

FLAUM, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I join the majority’s thorough opinion except for the portion dealing with Radtke’s conviction under Counts VII and VIII for receiving and concealing a stolen 1979 Chevrolet Suburban. I am not convinced that the government established beyond a reasonable doubt that this vehicle was stolen in Indiana, a necessary part of the interstate commerce element of both counts. The record is devoid of any direct evidence demonstrating that the vehicle was in Indiana at the time of its theft: the only possible indirect evidence that could even suggest its location was the testimony of its owner, who stated that she lived in Hammond, Indiana and drove the vehicle to church, where it was stolen. Had the owner lived in Indianapolis or another more interior Indiana city, this may well have constituted sufficient indirect evidence to raise an inference that the owner’s church also was in Indiana. Hammond, however, is on the border between Indiana and Illinois, and many Hammond residents cross the state line regularly to engage in social as well as commercial activities. The owner’s testimony, therefore, and the legitimate inferences that the jury could draw from it, do not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the Chevrolet Suburban was stolen in Indiana.
I am similarly unpersuaded by the majority’s treatment of the government’s demonstrative chart as substantive evidence. Charts prepared by one party often are useful tools that enable the jury to visualize and organize the large volume of data produced by trial testimony. These charts do not, however, constitute substantive evidence. Instead they should only reflect evidence already in the record. Moreover, they do not relieve the government of its burden of producing evidence to establish every element of its case. The government failed to produce satisfactory evidence demonstrating the location of the vehicle’s theft, and the demonstrative chart that it prepared simply cannot carry the day. Moreover, Radtke’s attorney properly objected to the government’s attempt to have the chart admitted as a summary under Federal Rule of Evidence 1006, and in my judgment the trial court’s decision to treat it as a Rule 1006 summary was erroneous to the extent it allowed the inference that the 1979 Chevrolet was stolen in Indiana.
For these reasons, I would reverse the Count VII and Count VIII convictions.