State v. Calitri

• Decision Date: 27 April 1983
• Docket Number: No. 80-563-C,80-563-C
• Citation: 459 A.2d 478
• Parties: STATE v. Gloria CALITRI. A.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 478

459 A.2d 478

STATE v. Gloria CALITRI.

No. 80-563-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

April 27, 1983.

Reargument Denied, May 26, 1983.

Dennis J. Roberts II, Atty. Gen., William P. Rampone, Sharon P. O'Keefe, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., for plaintiff.

William F. Reilly, Public Defender, Janice M. Weisfeld, Asst. Public Defender, for defendant.

OPINION

SHEA, Justice.

The defendant, Gloria Calitri (Calitri), stands convicted by a Superior Court jury of fraudulent conversion in violation of G.L.1956 (1969 Reenactment) §§ 11-41-3 and 11-41-5, as amended by P.L.1980, ch. 318, § 1. On appeal, she claims that the trial justice erred by refusing to allow into evidence monthly reports prepared by her. She also appeals the refusal of the trial justice to instruct the jury on the crime of embezzlement of a sum under $500. We affirm.

The Urban League of Rhode Island employed Calitri as its bookkeeper from September 1977 until March 22, 1979. In her capacity as bookkeeper, she had total control of the accounting system of the Urban League. Her responsibilities included keeping appropriate records of all funds received and disbursed by the Urban League.

In late January or early February 1979, Errol Hunt, the executive director of the Urban League, became aware that various ledgers were missing. These ledgers had been in Calitri's possession. Hunt directed her to reconstruct the missing ledgers so that the accountant could begin an audit. Calitri told Hunt that the accountant did not need everything reconstructed, that he would only make a cursory check of the books. Hunt insisted that she reproduce the ledgers.

Calitri began to reproduce the ledgers but failed to complete the reconstruction before her termination from the Urban League. It is unclear from the record why Hunt terminated Calitri. He did state that the work Calitri did prior to reconstructing the ledgers was "very good," "accurate," and "legible." Unlike her previous work, however, the reconstructed ledgers were illegible.

Shortly after Hunt terminated Calitri, he received a phone call from the President of Citizens Bank, who gave Hunt information indicating that Urban League funds had been misappropriated. The following day, Hunt and Larry Brown, the Urban League accountant, reviewed some of the agency's records. They determined that Calitri had made out and endorsed a number of checks without authority. The only people with authority to sign Urban League checks were the president, the treasurer, and Hunt. There was a $200 limit on Hunt's check-writing authority. Hunt and Brown discovered checks that Hunt had signed when blank made out by Calitri for amounts in excess of $200.

On April 2, 1979 Hunt went to the State Police to report that funds were missing from the Urban League. Then he spoke with Calitri, who denied any wrongdoing. In the meantime, Brown conducted an audit of the books and ledgers of each of the league's five financial accounts. To conduct the audit, Brown had to use books that had been reconstructed by Adele Roderick, who replaced Calitri as bookkeeper for the Urban League.

The audit revealed that numerous checks amounting to a substantial sum of money had been written on the various accounts, cashed, and not redeposited into the general account of the Urban League. Brown also found that entries had been made on the check stubs for amounts that differed from those on the canceled checks. For example, check number 338 was entered as $216.37 payable to "Narragansett Electric." Upon examination of the actual check, Brown found that it was payable to "Urban League, General Fund, Cash" in the amount of $500. This check and all of the other checks involved in the apparent embezzlement had been endorsed and cashed by Calitri.

The type of audit Brown conducted was a fraud audit, which generally requires 100 percent reconstruction of the books. Brown examined every check written during the course of the audit period. He attempted to determine the amount of money granted or donated to the agency by requesting outside confirmation from funding sources or contributors. He also examined the cash-disbursements account for every check then traced these checks, and also examined any supporting documentation. He examined all transfers between bank accounts and all paid invoices.

As a result of the fraud audit, Brown determined that the sum of $87,437.84 was missing from the Urban League. Brown traced the missing funds to checks endorsed and cashed by Calitri at Citizens Bank. A large number of these checks contained the word "cash" after a designated payee.

On appeal, Calitri first claims that the trial justice erred by refusing to admit copies of typewritten monthly reports prepared by Calitri for the board of directors. At trial, Hunt identified these reports. He testified that the reports were prepared by Calitri and submitted to the board of directors for use by the treasurer in his report at the monthly meetings. He also stated that nothing in the reports indicated that Calitri had misappropriated any funds.

The accountant, Brown, testified that when he performed the fraud audit, he looked at some of the monthly reports. However, he could not use the reports for his audit because he did not have the original set of books from which the reports had been generated.

Defense counsel offered the monthly reports to rebut the evidence that Calitri had misappropriated funds and that she had reconstructed the ledger in a sloppy, illegible manner. The state contended that the reports were irrelevant, that their introduction would only confuse the jury, and that the reconstructed ledgers, not the reports, reflected the actual expenses of the Urban League.

In ruling on the defense motion, the trial justice stated:

"Defendant's A for identification is a series--a whole group of monthly reports which, according to the evidence, were prepared by Miss Calitri. The...