U.S. v. Bratton, 88-5581

• Citation: 875 F.2d 439
• Decision Date: 31 May 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-5581,88-5581
• Parties: 28 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 134 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George BRATTON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 439

875 F.2d 439

28 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 134

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George BRATTON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 88-5581.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

May 31, 1989.

Rehearing Denied July 5, 1989.

Mark Stevens, San Antonio, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

LeRoy Morgan Jahn, Janet E. Bauerle, Gregory D. Anderson, Asst. U.S. Attys., Helen M. Eversberg, U.S. Atty., San Antonio, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before GOLDBERG, JOHNSON, and DUHE, Circuit Judges.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

Defendant George Bratton appeals his conviction on six counts of aiding and abetting the commission of wire fraud and possession of stolen money in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1343 and Sec. 2315. On appeal, Bratton challenges the sufficiency of the evidence adduced at trial to support his conviction, as well as the admission of certain impeachment evidence by the district court. We reject both contentions of Bratton and affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The arrest and conviction of defendant George Bratton for wire fraud and possession of stolen money stems from the unauthorized transfer of funds by Bratton's wife, Doris Bratton, during her employment from April 1982 until September 1987 as a market coordinator for the Diamond Shamrock Refining and Marketing Company in San Antonio, Texas. Among her duties as a market coordinator for Diamond Shamrock, Mrs. Bratton was responsible for administering the necessary paperwork on monetary "futures" accounts maintained by the New York broker for Diamond Shamrock, E.F. Hutton, and transferring large sums of money to and from the futures accounts through the use of a telephone fascimile machine located at the San Antonio office of Diamond Shamrock. As the records of transactions involving the futures accounts for Diamond Shamrock were not yet computerized during the employ of Mrs. Bratton as a market coordinator, Diamond Shamrock necessarily relied heavily on the representations of Mrs. Bratton concerning the status of its accounts and the transfer of its monies.

After serving approximately four years as a market coordinator for Diamond Shamrock, Mrs. Bratton, on July 16, 1986, sent an unauthorized telephone fascimile message to E.F. Hutton in New York requesting the transfer of $250,000 from a Diamond Shamrock futures account to an account at San Antonio Savings Association (SASA) styled "DJ's," which Mrs. Bratton represented to E.F. Hutton to be a subsidiary of Diamond Shamrock. In reality, Diamond Shamrock did not own such a subsidiary; rather, DJ's was a business solely owned by George Bratton who was the sole authorized signator on the DJ's account at SASA. Thereafter, in June 1987, Mrs. Bratton sent a second unauthorized telephone fascimile to E.F. Hutton requesting the transfer of $223,541 to an account at SASA styled "DJ's Dance Club."

Ultimately, the Brattons were indicted on several counts of wire fraud and receipt and possession of stolen property in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1343 and Sec. 2315. Mrs. Bratton subsequently entered into a plea agreement with the Government pursuant to which she pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. At the subsequent jury trial of George Bratton, Mrs. Bratton testified on behalf of her husband. Specifically, Mrs. Bratton testified that George Bratton had not instructed, encouraged, or directed her in any manner to transfer the funds at Diamond Shamrock. Mrs. Bratton further stated that she informed her husband that the transferred funds were part of an inheritance from her recently deceased grandmother in Japan. Ultimately, however, the jury convicted Mr. Bratton of six counts of aiding and abetting Mrs. Bratton in the commission of wire fraud and of possessing stolen property. After the district court denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, Mr. Bratton was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on each count with the sentences to be served concurrently and further ordered to make restitution to Diamond Shamrock in the amount of $473,541. Mr. Bratton now appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence

On appeal, Mr. Bratton challenges the sufficiency of the evidence adduced at trial to support his conviction of aiding and abetting his wife in the commission of wire fraud and of possession of stolen property. The only element of the above two crimes which Mr. Bratton maintains that the Government failed to prove at trial, however, is his knowledge of the stolen character of the funds deposited into the DJ's account at SASA at the time he received the stolen funds and appropriated those funds to his personal use. In reviewing an insufficiency of the evidence claim in a criminal matter, this Court inquires " 'whether after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' " United States v. Santiesteban, 833 F.2d 513, 516 (5th Cir.1987) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). Further, this Court will accept all credibility choices, whether based on direct or circumstantial evidence, which tend to support the verdict of the jury. United States v. Vergara, 687 F.2d 57, 60 (5th Cir.1982). Applying the above deferential standard of review to the facts of the instant case, we conclude that the evidence presented by the Government at trial is sufficient to support the conviction of Mr. Bratton for the crimes with which he was charged.

As noted previously, Mr. Bratton directs the attention of this Court to what he perceives to be the absence of any direct evidence establishing his knowledge of the stolen character of the Diamond Shamrock funds at the time he appropriated those funds to his personal use in San Antonio. Specifically, Mr. Bratton asserts that he innocently believed the explanation of his wife that the transferred funds were part of an inheritance from her deceased grandmother in Japan. Mr. Bratton does acknowledge that he was suffering from financial difficulties at the time the Diamond Shamrock funds were illegally transferred to the DJ's account; nevertheless, as evidence of his lack of knowledge of the stolen character of the funds, Mr. Bratton notes that he did not in any manner secret his activities with the funds once they were transferred to the DJ's account.

In response, to establish Mr. Bratton's knowledge of the stolen character of the transferred funds, the Government relies on the circumstances surrounding the unauthorized transfers of funds. In particular, the Government points to the active control and management of the stolen funds exercised by Mr. Bratton after the transfer of the funds to the SASA account upon which Mr. Bratton was the sole authorized signator. In this regard, the Government maintains that Mr. Bratton primarily directed the transfer and disposition of the funds after they were placed in the DJ's account to the exclusion of Mrs. Bratton. Moreover, as evidence of Mr. Bratton's guilt, the Government notes that Mr. Bratton kept open the DJ's account at SASA following the first fraudulent transfer of Diamond Shamrock funds in July 1986 despite...