Please note that all contributions to Wiki Law School may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Wiki Law School:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Free text:
'''Facts''': Cheek was an airline pilot who didn't pay taxes for a number of years. He was convicted of willfully failing to file a federal income tax return. He was also convicted for the misdemeanor offense of "willfully" failing to make a return required by law. '''Procedural History''': Initial jury instructions: (1) "an honest but unreasonable belief is not a defense and does not negate willfulness" (2) "advice or research resulting in the conclusion that wages of a privately employed person are not income or that the tax laws are unconstitutional is not objectively reasonable and cannot serve as the basis for a good faith misunderstanding of the law." '''Issue''': Is a good-faith misunderstanding of the law or a good-faith belief that one is not violating the law a valid defense? '''Reasons''': The instructions to the jury saying that "belief that the laws are unconstitutional wasn't a valid defense" was acceptable instruction. This is a matter of misunderstanding of (or disagreeing with) the law. The instructions saying that the "conclusion that wages of a privately employed person are not income wasn't a valid defense" wasn't acceptable instruction. This is a matter of mistake of fact. '''Judgment''': Remand for retrial. [[Category:Cases:Criminal Law]]
Save page Show preview Show changes Cancel