United States v. Davis
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
596 F.3d 852 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
Terry Davis (defendant), treasurer of his fraternity, was charged with stealing money from it. At trial, the prosecution introduced testimony from the new treasurer, Jimmy Hammock, that Davis had asked him, "Can we just split this $29,000.00 and make this situation just go away?" and that Hammock had told Davis to take any settlement proposal to the fraternity's counsel or president instead. The prosecution admitted it was not offering the testimony to show Davis was trying to obstruct the criminal investigation. Davis was convicted and appealed.
Whether evidence of a settlement offer is admissible to prove liability for a claim or the invalidity or amount of a claim.