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From: eder@ssc-vax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.taxes
Subject: Re: income taxes (Ray Garland case)
Message-ID: <625@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Nov-83 17:08:45 EST
Article-I.D.: ssc-vax.625
Posted: Fri Nov 18 17:08:45 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 21-Nov-83 01:05:06 EST
References: <583@houxz.UUCP> 18 November 1983
Organization: Boeing Aerospace, Seattle
Lines: 51

Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date for this article, but it appeared
in the Seattle Times in early 1983:

CHICAGO (AP) -  Raymond Garland had dutifully paid his taxes for a generation,
but stopped filing in 1976 after concluding it was up to the government to
collect and not his duty to volunteer personal information.
     Prosecuted for failure to file federal income-tax returns from 1976
through 1979, Garland argued before a U.S. District Court jury that his
beliefs were based on years of study.
     The jury acquitted him Wednesday in a verdict that Assistant U.S. Attorney
Jim Ferguson said was "beyond belief".  Presiding Judge William T. Hart was 
almost as astounded.
     After the verdict, Garland, an insurance salesman from Sycamore, called
the jurors "some of the bravest people there are in this country".
     Defense and prosecuting attorneys were reluctant to predict the legal
impact of the case, but they agreed the key was not the credibility of 
Garland's argument but the jury's conclusion that the defendant sincerely
believed he had done nothing wrong.
     "There is a good-faith defense as to understanding the requirements of
the law," defense lawyer Jim Burns said.  "I can only guess that the jury
concluded he had a good-faith misunderstanding, or it could have been
straight sympathy.  He came across as unbelievably sincere in his beliefs."
     Ferguson said the jury was instructed that Garland could not use as a
defense that U.S. tax laws are unconstitutional.  The only defense could be
a "good-faith, reasonable belief" in his views, the prosecutor said.
     "I suppose if (future defendants) can convince a jury that way, then
maybe they could prevail," the prosecutor said.
     Garland was charged last October with failing to file income taxes (sic)
on annual incomes ranging from $16,000 to $33,000, a criminal misdemeanor.
A guilty verdict would have carried a prison sentence of up to four years
and a fine.
     Garland, 44, still faces civil penalties.  The Internal Revenue Service
could sue for recovery of taxes owed plus a "civil fraud penalty" equal to
50 percent of his tax debt, IRS spokesman Steve Mongelluzzo said.  No statute
of limitations exists on suits to recoup returns that were never filed.
     Garland said he had filed for more than 20 years before immersing himself
in tax law, the Constitution and IRS instruction booklets.
     "He has no gripe about paying taxes, only to filing returns," his
defense lawyer said.  "He'd like the IRS to send him a bill on how much tax
he owes."
------------

     I have been trying to track down more details about the case, but the
law reporter services seem to have ignored it.  I would like to write the
court directly and get a transcript of the trial, but I don't have an
exact date for the case.  Does anyone out there know?  I know it is
between Jan and May of 1983, but no more.

                                            Dani Eder
                                            Boeing Aerospace