Singleton v. Commissioner

65 T.C. 1123, 1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 145
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMarch 18, 1976
DocketDocket No. 9680-74
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 65 T.C. 1123 (Singleton v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Singleton v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 1123, 1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 145 (tax 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

The first issue is procedural. During the discovery process, after numerous hearings and after the case was at issue, respondent filed a motion for protective order requesting that we stay further proceedings pending the final disposition of a criminal indictment returned against petitioner the previous week. We denied respondent’s motion for protective order.

The petition in this case was filed on December 11, 1974. Because of the time required for disposition of issues raised by petitioner in motions filed after respondent filed his answer, the reply was not filed until September 2, 1975, which, under our rules, is the time that the case was at issue. On October 30,1975, the case was set for trial in New York City on March 22, 1976. Petitioner was indicted for income tax evasion on December 23, 1975.

The indictment of petitioner for income tax evasion covered only the taxable year 1969; The case before us involves deficiencies in income tax and fraud penalties for the taxable years 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972. A jeopardy assessment was made against petitioner in August 1974 and payments arising from levies and seizures of property pursuant to the jeopardy assessment were made in August 1974.

Respondent’s motion for protective order under Rule 103(a)(1), (2), and (4) of our Rules of Practice and Procedure is based upon two events. One of the events is the action of the United States Supreme Court on June 6, 1975, in granting certiorari in United States v. Janis, docket No. 74-958. Why respondent waited over 6 months to request a stay in our proceedings on such a basis is not clear. During the interim period from the time certiorari was granted and the time respondent requested the protective order the following actions were taken: (1) We issued an order disposing of petitioner’s motions; (2) petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration; (3) petitioner filed his reply; (4) petitioner filed a motion to set the case for trial; (5) we held a hearing on the motions in Washington; (6) we issued an order denying petitioner’s motion for reconsideration but granted petitioner’s motion setting the case for trial and set the case for trial; (7) petitioner filed a motion to compel production of documents and a motion for an order granting a hearing to determine whether petitioner’s constitutional rights were violated; (8) we held a hearing on those two motions in Washington and we issued an order denying the motion to compel production of documents and granted the motion for a hearing on whether petitioner’s constitutional rights were violated; (9) petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration; and (10) we held a hearing on the motion for reconsideration.

The case of United States v. Janis, supra, involves the excise imposed upon wagering. The assessment was based upon evidence illegally obtained from the taxpayer. The District Court suppressed the evidence, quashed the assessment, and shifted the burden of proof to the Government. It found as a fact that the information upon which the assessment was based did not come from any source independent of the illegal search and seizure. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in an unpublished opinion and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

When respondent filed his motion for protective order there was no evidence as to the extent that the statutory notice of deficiency was based upon evidence illegally obtained; moreover, it was not established whether any evidence was illegally obtained. Therefore, the opinion of the Supreme Court in Janis may or may not have any bearing on the issues presented in the instant case. To hold petitioner’s case in abeyance pending the outcome of a case which is of uncertain application while petitioner’s assets are in the Government’s control under a jeopardy assessment appears inappropriate after actively pursuing discovery and preparation for trial some 6 months after the Supreme Court granted certiorari. Respondent’s second ground for the protective order rests upon the indictment of petitioner for income tax evasion 1 week before respondent filed his motion. Respondent argues that petitioner seeks evidence in the instant case to which he would not be entitled in the criminal case and he relies primarily upon Campbell v. Eastland, 307 F. 2d 478 (5th Cir. 1962), cert. denied 371 U.S. 955 (1963).

That case involved a possible criminal prosecution under consideration by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas at a time when the taxpayer filed a suit for refund in the Northern District of Texas after which petitioner promptly filed a motion for production of documents in the civil proceeding. The civil proceeding was transferred to the Eastern District of Texas. The Court found that the filing of the suit for refund, or at least the discovery motion, was a tactical maneuver for the taxpayer to gain advance information as to the criminal case. After a hearing, the District Court ordered the Government to turn over its files which it refused to do. The Court then entered judgment in favor of the taxpayer in the civil refund suit. The Government appealed and the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

We agree with the Court of Appeals but conclude that the instant case is distinguishable. The court pointed out that the matter is one in the discretion of the trial court, describing that discretion as follows:

(1) There is a clear-cut distinction between private interests in civil litigation and the public interest in a criminal prosecution, between a civil trial and a criminal trial, and between the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. But these distinctions do not mean that a civil action and a criminal action involving the same parties and some of the same issues are so unrelated that in determining good cause for discovery in the civil suit, a determination that requires the weighing of effects, the trial judge in the civil proceeding should ignore the effect discovery would have on a criminal proceeding that is pending or just about to be brought. The very fact that there is a clear distinction between civil and criminal actions requires a. government policy determination of priority: which case should be tried first. Administrative policy gives priority to the public interest in law enforcement. This seems so necessary and wise that a trial judge should give substantial weight to it in balancing the policy against the right of a civil litigant to a reasonably prompt determination of his civil claims or liabilities.
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A litigant should not be allowed to make use of the liberal discovery procedures applicable to a civil suit as a dodge to avoid the restrictions on criminal discovery and thereby obtain documents he would not otherwise be entitled to for use in his criminal suit. Judicial discretion and procedural flexibility should be utilized to harmonize the conflicting rules and to prevent the rules and policies applicable to one suit from doing violence to those pertaining to the other. In some situations it may be appropriate to stay the civil proceeding. United States v. Bridges, N.D. Calif. 1949, 86 F. Supp. 931. In others it may be preferable for the civil case to proceed — unstayed.

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Singleton v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 1123 (U.S. Tax Court, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
65 T.C. 1123, 1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/singleton-v-commissioner-tax-1976.