John T. Higginbotham - Page 9

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          required by Rule 133,6 which further underscores what appears to            
          be petitioner’s intentional attempt to unreasonably delay the               
          proceedings.  See Williams v. Commissioner, 119 T.C. 276, 279-280           
          (2002).                                                                     
               Petitioner was repeatedly warned by respondent’s counsel and           
          by the Court of the consequences of failing to prepare for trial            
          and of failing to appear at trial.  Despite those warnings,                 
          petitioner repeatedly failed to make any reasonable effort to               
          demonstrate his good faith and his willingness to prepare his               
          case for trial.  Although petitioner stated that he would forward           
          numerous documents to respondent, he never sent anything.  In               
          fact, respondent had to send petitioner copies of eight of                  
          petitioner’s tax returns to get petitioner to communicate with              
          him at all.  Furthermore, petitioner did not appear at the June             
          13, 2005, trial session or document any legitimate reason for his           
          failure to do so.                                                           
               We find that petitioner has failed to comply with the                  
          Court’s Rules and orders and has failed properly to prosecute               
          this case.  See Rollercade, Inc. v. Commissioner, supra at 116-             
          117; Smith v. Commissioner, supra.  Petitioner’s course of                  
          conduct throughout the proceedings demonstrates that these                  


               6Under Rule 133, a motion for continuance filed 30 days or             
          less before the trial date will be denied unless the ground for             
          continuance arose within that period or there was good reason for           
          not making the motion sooner.                                               





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