Blue v. State

716 So. 2d 567, 1998 WL 305176
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 11, 1998
Docket96-KP-01263-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 716 So. 2d 567 (Blue v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blue v. State, 716 So. 2d 567, 1998 WL 305176 (Mich. 1998).

Opinion

716 So.2d 567 (1998)

Brian L. BLUE and Sherri L. Blue a/k/a Brian Lynn Blue a/k/a Sherri Lynn Blue
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 96-KP-01263-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 11, 1998.

*569 Brian L. Blue and Sherri L. Blue, Toomsuba, Appellants, pro se.

Michael C. Moore, Attorney General, Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for Appellee.

Before PITTMAN, P.J., and BANKS and WALLER, JJ.

PITTMAN, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. Brian and Sherri Blue, appellants herein, were each indicted for two counts of tax evasion in violation of Miss. Code Ann. § 27-3-79, by the grand jury of Hinds County during the September term of 1995. Both defendants, acting pro se, were found guilty on all counts in the circuit court of Hinds County, Mississippi following a six day trial before the Honorable L. Breland Hilburn. On October 7, 1995, the trial court imposed the following sentence:

Brian Blue
COUNT I - FIVE years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. TWO years suspended THREE to serve.
COUNT II - FIVE years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. FIVE years suspended. FIVE years supervised probation. Sentence in Count II to run consecutive to the sentence in Count I. Defendant shall pay restitution in the amount of taxes owed in this cause to be paid over probationary period.
Sherri Blue
COUNT I - FIVE years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. FOUR years suspended. ONE to serve.
COUNT II - FIVE years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. FIVE years suspended. Sentence in Count II to run consecutive to the sentence in Count I. Defendant shall pay restitution in the amount of taxes owed in this cause to be paid over probationary period.

¶ 2. Following the trial court's denial of Motion for New Trial, defendants timely filed their notice of appeal.

¶ 3. The trial court allowed both defendants to post an appeal bond in the amount of $5,000 in order to prepare for their federal tax evasion trial.[1]

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 4. The defendants in the lower court and the appellants herein are Dr. Brian L. Blue ("Dr.Blue") and his wife, Sherri. Dr. Blue is a chiropractor in Meridian, Mississippi, where he and Sherri have resided for approximately fifteen (15) years. Sherri serves as the office manager for the chiropractic clinic. In the late 1980's Dr. Blue had a series of audits by the IRS[2] as well as the Mississippi State Tax Commission the results of which were unfavorable causing the Blues to owe additional taxes. The Blues have failed to file or pay state income taxes since 1988. However, the only years involved in the trial below were 1990 and 1991.

¶ 5. The Mississippi State Tax Commission began a criminal investigation on February 17, 1993. Mr. Albert Rowell, a criminal investigator with the State Tax Commission, testified that during his first interview with Dr. Blue, Dr. Blue told him that "he had no tax liability because it was his understanding that the only taxes that were due were those *570 from the manufactory [sic] of alcohol, tobacco, firearms; that he had no income from those sources; that he was not a citizen of the United States nor a resident of Mississippi, therefore, he could owe no state income tax." Mr. Rowell further testified that during this meeting, he asked Dr. Blue for records of his income at which time Dr. Blue said the records had been destroyed. Dr. Blue told Mr. Rowell that he burned all of his records in a bonfire on the day he "untaxed" himself.

¶ 6. Mr. Rowell first interviewed Sherri Blue on March 18, 1993. Sherri Blue said she wanted to talk about an organization called the Pilot Connection Society[3] which she and Dr. Blue joined in April of 1992. The Blues claim that it was the fault of the teachings of the Pilot Connection that caused them to be "in this trouble." Because of their involvement with the Pilot Connection, the Blues believed that the Internal Revenue Code which levies taxes was illegal, unenforceable, null and void.

¶ 7. Mr. Rowell subpoenaed the Blues' records from the banks. Mr. Rowell then agreed to back out of the case and give Dr. and Mrs. Blue an opportunity to prepare the returns and pay the tax. However, when there were no returns filed, Mr. Rowell reentered the case.

¶ 8. It was then discovered that sometime in 1992, the Blue's had transferred all of their assets including their home, checking accounts, vehicles and other real and personal property into 27 different trusts such that Brian Blue had zero assets. While the State contends that the Blues transferred their assets into trusts to hide them from State Tax Commission, the Blues argue that they did it for purposes of estate planning — to ensure that their children would have a place to live and money to live on in the event anything tragic happened to them.

¶ 9. Finally, the Blues filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an attempt to have their tax debt discharged. Once again the Blues turned to a company called Fiscal Resolutions out of Salt Lake City, Utah who charged them $8100 to file the bankruptcy for them.

¶ 10. Sam Corder, a criminal investigator with the Mississippi State Tax Commission, testified that while the Blues claim they have no money and therefore could not pay their taxes that is not true. Mr. Corder testified that upon reviewing the Blues' bank records, he learned that in 1990, the Blues had three checking accounts into which they deposited $204,377.66. Since there were no records to indicate the exact amount of the Blues' expenses for the year 1990, the State Tax Commission used the numbers the Internal Revenue Service came up with in their audit of the Blues for 1990. The total amount of taxable income for the Blue's for 1990 after all of the allowable deductions were subtracted, was $130,528.76 The amount of taxes the Blues owed on this amount was only $6,376.44. The gross deposits for 1991 in the Blues' checking accounts was $332,468.79. Mr. Corder explained the discrepancy in the Blues income in 1990 and 1991 by stating that when the IRS first began its audit, Mr. Blue refused to turn over any records; the auditor, therefore, just used the best information available to come up with the amount of income. However, after the criminal investigation began, the State Tax Commission subpoenaed the Blues' bank records and learned that their income was considerably more than they thought. But the State Tax Commission used the auditor's numbers to the Blues benefit. The total amount of taxable income for the Blues for 1991 was $143,912.85. The total amount of taxes the Blues owed on this amount was only $7,045.64. Then in 1992, the Blues began to shift their money from their regular accounts to an account named Milk Management Trust, Honey Trust, and the Blue Chiropractic Clinic Trust. Mr. Blue testified that he had no money after his money was transferred into the 27 trusts.

*571 ANALYSIS

I. THAT THE MISSISSIPPI STATE TAX COMMISSION, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DID DELIBERATELY FAIL TO PROVIDE TIMELY AND CRUCIAL INFORMATION TO THE APPELLANTS AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE IN VIOLATION OF THEIR PUBLIC DUTIES; SAID FAILURE BEING A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THIS INSTANT CASE.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kathy Darlene Brewer v. Kemp Bush
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2022
Paul Posey v. Dorothy Pope
269 So. 3d 1213 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2018)
Ricky E. Roberson v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017
Champluvier v. State
942 So. 2d 172 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
King v. State
897 So. 2d 981 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Salman v. State
879 So. 2d 474 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Williams v. State
772 So. 2d 406 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
716 So. 2d 567, 1998 WL 305176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blue-v-state-miss-1998.