United States v. James Wesley Brewer

486 F.2d 507
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedAugust 17, 1973
Docket73-1102
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 486 F.2d 507 (United States v. James Wesley Brewer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. James Wesley Brewer, 486 F.2d 507 (10th Cir. 1973).

Opinion

DOYLE, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant has here appealed his convictions on charges of failure to file income tax returns for the years 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 contrary to 26 U.S.C. 7203.

His contentions are:

First, that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress.

Second, that the verdict is not supported by sufficient evidence on the issue of his place of residence.

Third, that the district court lacked both jurisdiction and venue.

Fourth, that the instruction on venue and jurisdiction was erroneous.

Fifth, that the evidence was particularly insufficient as to Count four.

Virtually all of the defendant’s contentions revolve around the trial court’s ruling that the statements of defendant-appellant to the special Internal Revenue agent were admissible. Defendant maintains that his constitutional rights were violated because of the inadequacy of the warning given by the agent pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1968).

I.

The interview in question was conducted at the Federal Courthouse in Miami, Florida on August 12, 1970. Before the interview the agent advised defendant that under the Fifth Amendment the agent could not compel defendant to answer any questions or furnish any information if such answers or information tended to incriminate him. Defendant was also told that any statements or information provided could be used against him in a criminal proceeding. He was also told that he was entitled to the assistance of counsel, but he was not told that he could have an attorney appointed to represent him if an attorney could not be obtained. It was this latter' deficiency which is stressed as the factor which rendered the statements inadmissible. The trial court denied the motion to suppress the statements on the basis that the defendant was not in custody and, therefore, a Miranda warning was not required.

The facts are that prior to the interview with the defendant in Miami, the agent had tried to interview him in Oklahoma City. The defendant had actually insisted that the meeting be in Florida on the basis that he had two attorneys in Miami who could be present. The agent agreed to the Florida interview and also agreed to the defendant’s condition that he reserved the right to invoke his constitutional rights and decline to answer any question on the basis that he desired to confer with counsel before answering. Admittedly the defendant was free to leave at any time during the interview.

The circumstances here present no violation of the doctrine of Miranda v. Arizona, supra. We are not dealing with a case in which a person has been the victim of coercive surrounding conditions and atmosphere. Instead the defendant fixed the terms and conditions of the interview and stated that he had counsel available and would reserve his answers until he had consulted his lawyers. Since he had lawyers, and since his right to consult them was conceded, we see no necessity for the agent’s warning him as to his right to have counsel appointed. See Miranda v. Arizona, supra, *509 at 473, 86 S.Ct. 1602 n. 43; United States v. Merrick, 464 F.2d 1087, 1091 (10th Cir. 1972); United States v. Mon-tos, 421 F.2d 215, 223 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 397 U.S. 1022, 90 S.Ct. 1262, 25 L.Ed.2d 532 (1970); United States v. Messina, 388 F.2d 393, 395 (2d Cir.), cert, denied, 390 U.S. 1026, 88 S.Ct. 1413, 20 L.Ed.2d 283 (1968).

II.

Next we consider the point that the evidence is insufficient to establish that defendant’s legal residence was 2204 Southwest 71st Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the place where his wife and children resided. Ordinarily criminal prosecutions must be brought in the district in which the offense was committed, and federal income tax returns must, by statute, be filed in the place of legal residence of the taxpayer or at a service center serving that district, 26 U.S.C. § 6091(b)(1) (A) (i) and (ii), or the principal place of business of the taxpayer. The prosecution must then establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s residence in this, a tax case, was Oklahoma City. This is essential to establish jurisdiction and venue. United States v. Gorman, 393 F.2d 209, 213-214 (7th Cir.); cert, denied, 393 U.S. 832, 89 S.Ct. 102, 21 L.Ed.2d 103 (1968); Yarborough v. United States, 230 F.2d 56, 58-59 (4th Cir.), cert, denied, 351 U.S. 969, 76 S.Ct. 1034, 100 L. Ed. 1487 (1956); Bowles v. United States, 73 F.2d 772, 773-774 (4th Cir. 1934), cert, denied, 294 U.S. 710, 55 S. Ct. 506, 79 L.Ed. 1245 (1935); United States v. Commerford, 64 F.2d 28, 32-33 (2d Cir.), cert, denied, 289 U.S. 759, 53 S.Ct. 792, 77 L.Ed. 1502 (1933). See also United States v. Lombardo, 241 U.S. 73, 36 S.Ct. 508, 60 L.Ed. 897 (1915); Weaver v. United States, 298 F.2d 496 (5th Cir. 1962).

The term “residence” has been equated with domicile. See Pietro Crespi, 44 B.T.A. 670, 674 (1941); Samuel W. Weis, 30 B.T.A. 478, 486 (1934); L. B. Peeples, 27 B.T.A. 879, 882 (1933); Gates v. Commissioner, 199 F.2d 291 (10th Cir. 1952). This requires residence and intention to remain, and intention is a highly important element. See Gates v. Commissioner, supra. Here the prosecution relied upon the defendant’s statements in which he gave his Oklahoma City address as his permanent one. He made this statement in a deposition to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1968 and also to the Miami Police in the course of a homicide investigation, and he gave it to the magistrate on the occasion of his appearance in this ease. He, together with his wife, owns the property at the Oklahoma City address. Admittedly the defendant was not shown to have resided in Oklahoma City on a continuous basis. He did visit there on occasion. He was also shown to have owned a house in Florida where he conducted his business. From a review of the conflicts in the evidence, it was open to the jury to determine that his residence was indeed in Oklahoma City. See District of Columbia v. Murphy, 314 U.S. 441, 455-458, 62 S.Ct. 303, 86 L.Ed. 329 (1941).

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

Related

Lemke v. International Total Services, Inc.
56 F. Supp. 2d 472 (D. New Jersey, 1999)
United States v. Rex S. Taylor
828 F.2d 630 (Tenth Circuit, 1987)
Axelrod v. Commissioner
1982 T.C. Memo. 92 (U.S. Tax Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
486 F.2d 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-james-wesley-brewer-ca10-1973.