Tommy Ho Ching Cheng - Page 8

                                        - 8 -                                         
          testify. * * * The injustice to petitioner by the Court’s failure           
          to grant the motion for continuance is profound.”                           
               While petitioner’s first three motions for continuance are             
          not in issue, they provide important context.  All three motions            
          were filed approximately 2 weeks before the respective calendar             
          calls and listed the same four grounds for continuance:  (1)                
          Petitioner’s incarceration; (2) to allow petitioner to hire an              
          attorney; (3) to give petitioner the time to review records with            
          an accountant; and (4) to give petitioner time to receive bank              
          records.                                                                    
               Petitioner’s fourth motion for continuance was not filed               
          until March 16, 2005, on the morning of trial and 2 days after              
          calendar call.  Essentially, the fourth motion offers three                 
          grounds for continuance.  Two of the grounds are:  (1) Petitioner           
          has been unable to review his records on account of his                     
          incarceration; and (2) petitioner recently hired counsel and an             
          accountant to help in the preparation of the case.                          
               Rule 133 provides that a motion for continuance filed within           
          30 days of the trial date will be denied unless the ground for              
          continuance arose during that period or there is a good reason              
          for not making the motion sooner.  See Higginbotham v.                      
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-270; Smith v. Commissioner, T.C.              
          Memo. 2004-198.  Employment of an attorney or an accountant                 
          shortly before trial ordinarily is not grounds for a continuance.           






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011