- 6 -
At a sidebar during the Government’s direct examination of the
special agent, the trial judge made clear that the issue under
section 7206(1) was whether petitioner had knowingly made a false
statement on his 1985 and 1986 returns, not the amounts of
petitioner’s unreported income. The trial judge in the criminal
case instructed the jury with respect to counts 86 and 87 as
follows:
Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1),
makes it a crime for anyone willfully to make a false
statement on an income tax return. “Willfully” means
with intent to violate a known legal duty.
The Defendant Neder can be found guilty of that
offense as charged in Counts Eighty-six and Eighty-
seven, only if all of the following elements are proved
beyond a reasonable doubt:
First: That the Defendant signed an income tax return
that contained a written declaration that it was
made under penalties of perjury;
Second: That in this return the Defendant falsely reported
a total income in his 1985 return of $53,625 and
in his 1986 return a minus $980,377;
Third: That the Defendant knew the statement was false;
and
Fourth: That the Defendant made the statement on purpose,
and not as a result of accident, negligence or
inadvertence.
The trial judge did not ask the jury to decide the amount of
petitioner’s unreported income.
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