Bland

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant-Appellant Suzette Bland timely appeals her district court conviction and sentence for two counts of social security fraud in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1383a(a)(2) and 1383a(a)(3). Bland contends the district court improperly admitted hearsay statements made by her mother, Gabrielle Smith. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse.

The district court erred by admitting Smith’s statements to Agent Joseph Rogers that entries in her At-A-Glance book represented grocery money she had given Bland as non-hearsay. In each of the “false exculpatory statement” cases cited by the government, the prosecution presented additional evidence to show that the purported exculpatory statements were, in fact, false. See United States v. Newman, 6 F.3d 623, 628 (9th Cir.1993); United States v. Candoli, 870 F.2d 496, 508 (9th Cir.1989); United States v. Hackett, 638 F.2d 1179, 1186-87 (9th Cir.1980). Here, Agent Rogers’ speculative testimony as to what he believed the notations referred to falls well short of demonstrating that Smith’s statements were false. In the absence of evidence contradicting Smith’s explanation of the notations, Smith’s statements to…