United States v. Henrietta Faye Ell

Henrietta Faye Ell appeals her conviction for uttering an altered government check. Ell contends that the district court committed reversible error during trial when it allowed the rebuttal testimony of government witnesses who were permitted to remain in the courtroom during the testimony of other witnesses. The defendant had requested that they be excluded pursuant to Rule 615 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. We agree that it was error for the district court not to exclude the witnesses from the courtroom upon defendant’s request. We remand for a finding of whether allowing the testimony was harmless error.

FACTS

On April 16,1982, defendant Ell cashed a United States Treasury check in the altered amount of $867.63. Government records indicated that the check had been made out for the sum of $67.63. Ell testified that when she received the check in the mail, the amount was already $867.63, and that she was not aware that the check had been altered at the time she cashed it. After a two-day jury trial, Ell was convicted of the felony of uttering an altered check. 18 U.S.C. § 495 .

At trial, three of the prosecution’s witnesses were Roberta DesRosier; Diana Wippert, Ell’s…