John D. Shea - Page 35




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          raise, nor did the Ninth Circuit address, the different evidence            
          alternative.                                                                
               Stewart v. Commissioner, 714 F.2d 977 (9th Cir. 1983), affg.           
          T.C. Memo. 1982-209, is a post-Abatti case that also required the           
          Ninth Circuit to interpret Rule 142(a)’s use of the term “new               
          matter”.  The Ninth Circuit concluded:  "It is well settled that            
          the assertion of a new theory that merely clarifies the original            
          determination, without requiring the presentation of different              
          evidence, does not shift the burden of proof."  Id. at 990                  
          (citing Achiro v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. at 890).  Again, the                
          Ninth Circuit stated an interpretation of the term “new matter”             
          that, if considered in isolation, could be misunderstood to                 
          exclude alternative interpretations and would imply that, in                
          every instance, a new theory that does not require different                
          evidence is not new matter.  I do not believe we must infer that,           
          in going from Abatti to Stewart, the Ninth Circuit replaced one             
          singular interpretation of the term “new matter”, i.e.,                     
          inconsistency, with another, i.e., different evidence.  Clearly             
          the Ninth Circuit has adopted both alternatives of our                      
          disjunctive test.  Although the Ninth Circuit has stated each               
          alternative in exclusive terms at different times, I think that             
          those statements can be harmonized.  If, however, either test               
          preempts the other in the Ninth Circuit, we must conclude that              







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