Jerry and Patricia A. Dixon, et al - Page 177




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          array, inasmuch as the remaining test cases provided full                   
          coverage of the Kersting programs and taxable years in dispute.             
               Under the circumstances, we must weigh the impact of the               
          Government misconduct in the Cravens cases on two levels.  First,           
          because Mr. McWade led Mr. Cravens to believe that he did not               
          need counsel at the trial of the test cases, we must consider               
          whether Mr. Cravens' pro se status (and attendant lack of                   
          preparation and organization) was material to the outcome in the            
          trial of the test cases.  Second, because Judge Goffe might                 
          have removed the Cravens cases from the test case array if he had           
          known that they had been settled, we must consider whether Mr.              
          Cravens' testimony was material to the outcome in Dixon II.  As             
          discussed in greater detail below, we are convinced that the                
          outcome in Dixon II would not have been different irrespective of           
          whether Mr. Cravens had been represented at trial by competent              
          counsel or whether Judge Goffe would have excluded Mr. Cravens'             
          testimony in its entirety.                                                  
                    i.   Sham Analysis                                                
          We will assume that, but for Mr. McWade's interference,                     
          Mr. Cravens would have appeared at the trial of the test cases              
          with counsel and testified (consistent with the testimony of the            
          other test case petitioners) that he participated in the Kersting           
          programs with a view towards making a profit and that his                   
          promissory notes constituted genuine indebtedness.  Nevertheless,           
          on the basis of our review of Dixon II, we are convinced that               



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