624 F2d 1336 United States v. Lane  624 F.2d 1336  6 Fed. R.
Evid. Serv. 1102  UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
William LANE, Defendant-Appellant.  No. 79-5312  Summary
Calendar.*  United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.  Aug.
28, 1980.  John W. Benbow, San Antonio, Tex., for defendant-
appellant.       William Lane, owner and operator of Bexar
County (Texas) Ambulance Service, was convicted at a jury trial
on twenty-nine counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1001 by making,
and causing his employees to make, false, fictitious, and
fraudulent statements on forms requesting Medicare payments for
ambulance services which appellant's firm had not rendered.1 In
appealing his conviction Lane contends that the district judge
committed several reversible errors in his conduct of the trial.
For those reasons discussed below, we affirm the appellant's
conviction.   During 1975 and 1976 Lane operated the Bexar
County Ambulance Service in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.
Bexar County Ambulance was in the b