United States v. Melvin Towns, Jr., 718 F.3d 404

Towns was convicted by jury of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and to possess/distribute pseudoephedrine under 21 U.S.C. § 846, based in part on pseudoephedrine purchase logs from multiple pharmacies.
Logs were admitted via officer Pieprzica who relayed records custodian affidavits certifying the logs as accurate business records.
Towns challenged admission of the logs as non-ordinary-course records and argued they violated the Confrontation Clause and Rule 803(6) foundations, but the district court admitted them.
Trial included co-conspirator testimony and Towns’s own testimony admitting large pseudoephedrine purchases but denying illicit manufacture involvement.
Towns moved for a new trial; the district court denied, and Towns also was found ineligible for safety-valve relief, leading to an enhanced mandatory sentence.
On appeal, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding logs admissible as business records and non-testimonial, and upholding the safety valve denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Are the pseudoephedrine logs admissible as business records?	Logs were not kept in ordinary course; prepared for law enforcement use.	Logs do not meet FRE 803(6) criteria and lack proper custodian foundation.	Logs are admissible as business records; proper foundation shown via custodian affidavits.
Do the logs violate the Confrontation Clause under Melendez-Diaz?	Logs are testimonial and require live witnesses.	Logs were non-testimonial business records not prepared for trial.	Logs are non-testimonial; Confrontation Clause not violated.
Did the district court err in not granting safety-valve reduction?	Towns truthfully provided all information by sentencing, justifying safety valve.	District court properly evaluated Towns’s disclosures and denied safety-valve relief.	Court did not err; safety valve denial affirmed.
Was there harmless error in the admission of the logs?	Erroneous admission could have affected verdict.	Logs properly admitted; any error would be harmless.	Not reached; adjudication above controls; harmless error not necessary to reach.

Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 (U.S. 2009) (business records not testimonial absent trial purpose)
Bullcoming v. New Mexico, 131 S. Ct. 2705 (U.S. 2011) (document created for evidentiary purpose may be testimonial)
Wilson v. Zapata Offshore Co., 939 F.2d 260 (5th Cir. 1991) (custodian affidavits can foundation business records without testifying custodian)
United States v. Veytia-Bravo, 603 F.2d 1187 (5th Cir. 1979) (firearms logs as business records; trustworthiness and regularity considerations)
Matthews v. United States, 217 F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1954) (sugar reports and requirement of regular business conduct for trustworthiness)
United States v. Wells, 262 F.3d 455 (5th Cir. 2001) (trustworthiness as core to business records exception)
United States v. Mashek, 606 F.3d 922 (8th Cir. 2010) (Mashek held logs non-testimonial where records kept in ordinary course)
United States v. Jackson, 636 F.3d 687 (5th Cir. 2011) (confrontation challenges; standard of review for evidentiary rulings)