United States v. Mornan

Christopher Mornan (defendant) was charged with fraud in connection with a telemarketing scheme. As part of the scheme, the victims sent money orders for insurance to Mornan’s company. The prosecution alleged that Mornan had cashed these checks at Icon Cheque Cashing Services, Inc. (Icon). Althea Burton, a former Icon employee, testified at her deposition that Mornan often cashed checks made out to insurance companies. The prosecution called Burton as a witness at trial, but Burton claimed to be unable to remember her time as an Icon employee and her statement during her deposition. Burton stated that she had memory-loss issues due to injuries sustained in a car accident after the deposition. However, the prosecution presented evidence that the car accident was minor and that Burton had not been hospitalized and had not received treatment for memory loss. In addition, the prosecution presented evidence that Burton’s cousin, the owner of Icon, had also been indicted in the telemarketing scheme. The district court determined that Burton’s memory loss was not genuine, and permitted the introduction of Burton’s prior statement during her deposition as a prior inconsistent statement under Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 801(d)(1)(A). Mornan was convicted by the district court. Mornan appealed, arguing that Burton’s prior statement was not actually inconsistent with her testimony at trial.