-21-
202, 212 (1992); Tokarski v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. at 77.
Petitioner failed to produce any corroborating evidence to
support his testimony. Although petitioner testified that his
wife, mother, and father, all of whom live in the same apartment
with petitioner, and Saleh, who also lives in Calhoun, are the
sources for his deposits, petitioner failed to call any family
members to testify in an effort to verify his stories.21 We
cannot assume the testimony of absent witnesses would have been
favorable to petitioner. Rather, the normal inference is that it
would have been unfavorable. Tokarski v. Commissioner, supra at
77; Pollack v. Commissioner, 47 T.C. 92, 108 (1966), affd. 392
F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1968); Wichita Terminal Elevator Co. v.
Commissioner, 6 T.C. 1158, 1165 (1946), affd. 162 F.2d 513 (10th
Cir. 1947). Moreover, our analysis of petitioner's testimony
reveals inconsistencies that cast doubt upon his credibility.22
21 Petitioner's explanation for his failure to call any
family members to testify is not credible. Petitioner explained
that although he lives only 2 hours from the place of trial, he
did not call his parents because the weather was "nasty", his
parents do not speak English, and are "too old" (at 63 or 64
years of age) for him to put them through the ordeal of
testifying via an interpreter. Considering his parents traveled
from Jordan to Georgia only 2 weeks before the trial,
successfully navigating similar hazards of greater scale than
they would have encountered on a 2-hour journey from Calhoun to
Atlanta, we find petitioner's explanation to be both inventive
and implausible. Petitioner's explanation of why Gibson and
Saleh could not attend the trial and contribute corroborating
testimony shares an equally unreliable quality.
22 For example, petitioner testified that his parents are
very wealthy, at one time having enough money to "buy half of the
(continued...)
Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011