Martha G. Whitfield v. United States

383 F.2d 142, 20 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5513, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 5154
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided September 11, 1967·No. 21465·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

ELY, Circuit Judge:

In a jury trial, appellant was found guilty of having fraudulently attempted to evade or defeat the payment of federal income taxes, an offense proscribed by 26 U.S.C. § 7201. She appeals from the judgment of conviction, invoking the power of review conferred upon us by 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

The indictment consisted of two counts. The Government undertook to prove its case by the “net worth” method. It contends that the proof established that the appellant’s taxable income was $32,253.77 in 1958 and $13,373.49 in 1959. In her tax returns, appellant had reported that there was no taxable income in 1958 and that there was only $5,115.02 in taxable income for the year 1959.

The taxing authorities had been informed of the possibility that appellant had not been forthright in meeting her tax responsibilities to the United States, whereupon, on February 10, 1961, appellant was interviewed by an agent of the Internal Revenue Service. The interviewing agent displayed his credentials and advised appellant, in part, as follows:

“[Ajccording to the federal laws of these United States, ‘you cannot be required to furnish any information that may incriminate you in any way’ * * *. ‘It is my duty to warn you that in the event that any action is taken against you in a Federal Court that any information or documents you furnish can be [used] against you in any such proceedings’ * * *. [You can] refuse to answer any or all * * * questions.”

The Government admits that its agent did not advise appellant of her right to have counsel in attendance during the interrogation. The district judge admitted evidence of information which appellant had supplied and statements which she made to the agent following the admonition. She now contends that this evidence was inadmissible because of the agent’s failure to communicate advice pertaining to the right of counsel and that her motion to suppress it should have been granted. She challenges the soundness of our decision in Kohatsu v. United States, 351 F.2d 898 (9th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 1011, 86 S. Ct. 1915, 16 L.Ed.2d 1017, rehearing denied, 385 U.S. 891, 87 S.Ct. 15, 17 L.Ed. 2d 122 (1966), followed in Selinger v. Bigler, 377 F.2d 542 (9th Cir. 1967). While our opinion in Kohatsu has been criticized (see United States v. Turzyn *144 ski, D.C., 268 F.Supp. 847 (N.D.Illl. 1967)), we do not here find it necessary to reexamine it. The advice, including a warning which the agent communicated to the appellant, most assuredly met with all requirements which, in 1961, were thought to exist. While it did not completely and precisely measure up to that required by Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), its only deficiency, failure to include information as to the right of counsel, affords appellant no valid basis for relief. Her trial commenced on October 26, 1965, before the opinion was issued in Miranda on June 13, 1966. In the light of this sequence of events, appellant’s contention is foreclosed by Johnson v. State of New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 16 L.Ed.2d 882, rehearing denied, 385 U.S. 890, 87 S.Ct. 12, 17 L.Ed.2d 121 (1966).

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Martha G. Whitfield v. United States, 383 F.2d 142, 20 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5513, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 5154 (9th Cir. 1967).

383 F.2d 142 (Martha G. Whitfield v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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