Appellate Law

CA1: tax blindness instruction

By S. COTUS

US v. Anthony, No. 07-1670.  Oh god, this is sad.  This guy was a Coastie for two decades.  Then he decided he didn?t need to pay taxes.  On the one hand, I hate tax cheats.  On the other hand, I can?t help feeling sorry for the guy.  He was convicted under 26 U.S.C. § 7201.  The District Court gave a ?willful blindness? instruction.  There is a good discussion of the law here, but it concludes that there was no error.  Essentially, there was evidence that he ?willfully? blinded himself to the state of current law, the government was entitled to such an instruction.  The defendant also loses on his bid to have a bunch of ?statutes? admitted, though he was permitted to read summaries to prove up his subjective belief.  Fine by the First.   

All the sentencing errors are affirmed.  However, I should note that the District Court did rely on a guideline that says that a sentence should instill respect for a duty to pay taxes.

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).