Emmanuel I. Nwachukwu - Page 9




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          the testimony of absent witnesses would have been favorable to              
          petitioner.  Rather, the normal inference is that it would have             
          been unfavorable.  See 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).  Under these circumstances, we cannot            
          find that petitioner expended the claimed amounts for medical               
          devices during the year at issue.                                           
               In his reconstruction of costs, petitioner represented that            
          he paid $2,300 for prescription medicine during 1995.  Although             
          this amount is substantial, and although petitioner testified at            
          trial that his daughter continued to suffer from asthma,                    
          petitioner could not remember the names of the drugs that his               
          daughter was prescribed.                                                    
               The only credible evidence petitioner produced at trial to             
          substantiate his claim that he paid for medical care was a                  
          computer printout of his financial history from the clinic where            
          he took Michelle for treatment.  The printout has columns for the           
          date, patient's name, payment history, diagnosis, and cost of the           
          service.                                                                    
               Petitioner testified that he began taking Michelle to the              
          clinic in early 1995; however, the printout shows that as of                
          August 4, 1995, Michelle was a new patient with no previous                 
          history.  The printout also shows that, except for $12 paid by              






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