David v. United States

964 F. Supp. 31, 81 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 704, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6523, 1997 WL 239660
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedApril 30, 1997
DocketCivil Action No. 96-30067-MAP
StatusPublished

This text of 964 F. Supp. 31 (David v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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David v. United States, 964 F. Supp. 31, 81 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 704, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6523, 1997 WL 239660 (D. Mass. 1997).

Opinion

PONSOR, District Judge.

Upon de novo review this Report and Recommendation are hereby adopted. Defendant’s motion (Dkt. No. 8) is hereby ALLOWED, and plaintiffs motion (Diet. No. 11) is DENIED. Plaintiffs suit cannot survive the letter and spirit of Brockamp.

So Ordered.

The elerk is hereby ordered to enter judgment for the defendant.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION REGARDING CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket Nos. 8 and 11)

NEIMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff George David (“Plaintiff’) claims that Defendant, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States of America (“IRS”), wrongfully refused to pay him a refund for tax year 1989. The parties’ cross motions for summary judgment have been referred to this Court for a report and recommendation. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). For the reasons set forth below, the Court recommends that the IRS’s motion for summary judgment be allowed, and that Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment be denied.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

The role of summary judgment in civil litigation is to pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and assay the parties’ proof in an effort to determine whether trial is actually required. McIntosh v. Antonino, 71 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir.1995) (citing Wynne v. Tufts Univ. Sch. of Med., 976 F.2d 791, 794 (1st Cir.1992)). Summary judgment is appropriate where the record reveals no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e).

The Court must view the evidence as a whole, rather than in isolation. Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991). The facts, and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from them, must be viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, see Guzman-Rivera v. Rivera-Cruz, 29 F.3d 3, 4 (1st Cir.1994), who bears the burden of placing at least one material fact into dispute after the moving party shows the absence of any disputed material fact, Mendes v. Medtronic, Inc., 18 F.3d 13, 15 (1st Cir.1994) (discussing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553-54, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). Absent a genuine dispute of material fact, questions of law are appropriate for resolution on summary judgment. Jimenez v. Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 974 F.2d 221, 223 (1st Cir.1992).

The mere fact that both parties move for summary judgment does not change the foregoing analysis. United Paperworkers Intern. Union, Local H, AFL-CIO-CLC v. International Paper Co., 64 F.3d 28, 32 n. 2 (1st Cir.1995). Barring special circumstances, the Court must consider each motion separately, drawing inferences against each movant in turn. EEOC v. Steamship Clerks Union, Local 1066, 48 F.3d 594, 608 n. 8 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 116 S.Ct. 65,133 L.Ed.2d 27 (1995).

III. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The facts are stated in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, the party initially opposing summary judgment. During tax year 1989, $5,599 was withheld from Plaintiff’s pay and remitted to the IRS for federal income tax purposes. On April 4, 1990, federal agents, acting pursuant to a search warrant, seized many of Plaintiff’s business records including relevant tax documents. Unable to complete [33]*33his 1989 return on time without the documents, Plaintiff, on April 15, 1990, filed an IRS Form 4868 requesting an extension. Included with this request was Plaintiffs check for $12,000. On July 15, 1990, Plaintiff requested and received a second extension, which expired on October 1 5, 1 990. Plaintiff did not file his 1989 tax return within the extended period.

On February 21, 1992, after a series of motions filed by Plaintiff, the IRS released Plaintiffs documents in accord with a settlement reached between him, his employer and the IRS. Plaintiff claims, however, that he did not actually receive custody of the documents until December 31, 1992, after a number of months of wrangling with his employer.

In the interim, in October of 1992, Plaintiff pleaded guilty to two federal criminal counts: conspiracy to defraud (arising out of Plaintiffs purchase of annuities for an insurance client) and income tax evasion (arising out of Plaintiffs failure to a file a Form 1099 for an employee). In December, Chief Judge Frank H. Freedman sentenced Plaintiff to one year incarceration with three years of supervised release.

Plaintiff reported to the Allenwood federal detention center on January 8, 1993. Upon his release on October 4, 1993, Plaintiff went immediately to a halfway house in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he resided until approximately January 5, 1 994. At the halfway house, Plaintiffs travel was restricted to and from his work-release job.

Immediately upon his release from the halfway house, Plaintiff began reviewing his tax records with the purpose of filing his 1989 return. Plaintiff completed his return on or about February 18, 1994, and the return was received by the IRS on February 24, 1994. The return claimed a refund of $11,251. This amount represents the difference between $17,599 (the $12,000 remittance of April 1 5, 1990, plus the $5,599 in payroll deductions during calendar year 1 989) and a tax liability of $6,348. On or about May 16, 1994, the IRS determined that Plaintiffs tax liability for calendar year 1989 was in fact $6,348. However, the IRS refused to grant the refund because of applicable statutory time limits.

IV. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On April 23, 1996, Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed the instant complaint, alleging that the IRS wrongfully refused to pay him a refund for tax year 1 989. The complaint demands judgment in the amount of $11,251 plus interest and costs. On December 19, 1996, after discovery was completed, the IRS moved for summary judgment. On January 6, 1997, Plaintiff filed his own motion for summary judgment, together with a lengthy statement of facts, a supporting affidavit and other documentation.

On January 31, 1997, the IRS filed an opposition to Plaintiffs summary judgment motion and three days later, on February 3, Plaintiffs present counsel filed an appearance on Plaintiffs behalf. On that same date, Plaintiff, through counsel, filed an opposition to the IRS’s motion for summary judgment.1

[34]*34V. DISCUSSION

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