United States v. Peter Collorafi, 876 F.2d 303, 2d Cir. (1989)

876 F.
2d 303
64 A.F.T.R.2d 89-5013, 90-1 USTC P 50,188
UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,

v.
Peter COLLORAFI, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 391, Docket 88-1281.
United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.
Argued Nov. 10, 1988.
Decided May 31, 1989.
John Gleeson, Asst. U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Andrew J.

Maloney, U.S. Atty., and Kevin O'Regan, Asst. U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y.,
Brooklyn, N.Y., of counsel), for appellant.
William C. Waller, Jr., Denver, Colo. (Waller, Mark & Allen, P.C.,
Denver, Colo., of counsel), for defendant-appellee.
Before: LUMBARD, VAN GRAAFEILAND and ALTIMARI, Circuit
Judges.
VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judge:
The United States appeals, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731, from an in limine
order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
(Mishler, J.) holding inadmissable in this tax evasion prosecution two
memorandum decisions and orders which had dismissed defendant's earlier
civil challenges to the federal income tax on wages. We reverse.
Peter Collorafi was indicted on four counts of willfully failing to file income
tax returns for the tax years 1982 and 1983 and of willfully attempting to evade
income taxes by filing W-4 forms with his employer in which he claimed that
he was exempt from tax withholdings. 26 U.S.C. Secs. 7203 and 7201. During
the relevant tax years, Collorafi was employed by, and received wages from,
American Airlines. Collorafi does not deny that he failed to pay income taxes
for the years 1982 and 1983. Instead, his defense at trial will be that his failure
to file was not willful because he had a good faith belief, supported by advice of
counsel, that wages are not income.
3
In 1983, Collorafi and twenty-five other taxpayers, represented by attorney

Adrienne Flipse, brought two actions against the United States in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in each of which the
claim was made that wages are not taxable income. In the first action, CV 831033, the plaintiffs sought a refund of income taxes previously paid. In the
second, CV 83-1034, they sought a declaratory judgment that their wages were
not subject to withholding for the benefit of the Internal Revenue Service.
These cases were assigned to Judge Mishler.
On December 2, 1983, Judge Mishler granted the Government's motions to

dismiss both complaints for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be
granted. Judge Mishler was unequivocal in his decisions. In dismissing CV 831033, he stated, "we hold that the complaint filed in the instant case is wholly
without merit. It is another rehash of an issue that was decided long ago....
These assertions have no legal foundation and are frivolous." He then assessed
attorney's fees against Collorafi and Flipse pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Secs. 2412
and 1927, stating that "[m]ost law students would probably recognize the
frivolity of this action. There is no justifiable excuse for these actions. Plaintiffs
were apparently using the federal courts to further contentions announced in the
media. Such use of the federal courts is improper." In similar fashion, Judge
Mishler dismissed CV 83-1034 and awarded fees to the Government. "We find
this action wholly without merit.... We again question the competence of
plaintiff's [sic] attorney in bringing this action."
Judgments were entered in the two actions on December 13, 1983, and
Collorafi filed notices of appeal on February 10, 1984. On March 6, 1984, six
weeks before the April 15 deadline for filing 1983 tax returns, Collorafi's
appeal in CV 83-1034 was dismissed for failure to comply with the rules of this
Court. On April 26, 1984, the appeal in CV 83-1033 was withdrawn by
stipulation. Subsequently, Collorafi pursued some non-litigious remedies,
consulted new counsel, filed all his delinquent returns and paid his back taxes.
In February 1988, Collorafi was indicted on the current charges. This criminal
case also was assigned to Judge Mishler. Prior to trial, the Government made
known its intention to introduce Judge Mishler's two decisions into evidence
with his name redacted, the purpose being to show that after reading these
decisions Collorafi could no longer believe in good faith that his wages were
not income and that therefore his failure to pay taxes was willful. At a pretrial
hearing, Judge Mishler sua sponte announced that he would not allow the
Government to put the decisions in evidence. This was error.
7
In order for the Government to prosecute successfully for violations of sections

7201 and 7203, it must prove more than mere failure to file and pay. It must
prove that these acts were done willfully, i.e., in bad faith or with evil intent.
United States v. Bishop, 412 U.S. 346, 359-61, 93 S.Ct. 2008, 2016-18, 36
L.Ed.2d 941 (1973). Since bad faith and evil intent involve intangible mental
processes, proof of willfulness usually must be accomplished by means of
circumstantial evidence. United States v. Brown, 591 F.2d 307, 311 (5th Cir.),
cert. denied, 442 U.S. 913, 99 S.Ct. 2831, 61 L.Ed.2d 280 (1979). This being
so, trial courts should follow a liberal policy in admitting evidence directed
towards establishing the defendant's state of mind. No evidence which bears on
this issue should be excluded unless it interjects tangential and confusing
elements which clearly outweigh its relevance. Vinieris v. Byzantine Maritime
Corp., 731 F.2d 1061, 1064 (2d Cir.1984), and cases cited therein.
Thus, proof that knowledgeable persons warned the defendant of tax

improprieties has been admitted in numerous cases as proper circumstantial
evidence of knowledge and wrongful intent. See, e.g., United States v.
Gustafson, 728 F.2d 1078, 1081-84 (8th Cir.) (letter from bank examiner
criticizing banking transaction), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 979, 105 S.Ct. 380, 83
L.Ed.2d 315 (1984); United States v. Durant, 324 F.2d 859, 862-64 (7th
Cir.1963) (warning by tax examiners that practice of taking corporate tax
deductions for personal expenditures was improper), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 906,
84 S.Ct. 1165, 12 L.Ed.2d 177 (1964). Similarly, proof that a defendant
continued a tax practice that already had been held unlawful by a federal judge
is strong circumstantial evidence of wrongful intent. United States v. Ebner,
782 F.2d 1120, 1125-26 (2d Cir.1986); United States v. Schiff, 801 F.2d 108,
112 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 945, 107 S.Ct. 1603, 94 L.Ed.2d 789
(1987).
It is not clear to us why the district court held that evidence of its prior rulings
was inadmissible. The district court stated at one point that its decision in CV
83-1033 "wasn't a final judgment. There was an appeal pending." At another
point, the district court said:
10
It seems the appeal was withdrawn before he filed his W-4. But it certainly isn't
the law of the case until the judgment becomes final and that would be the basis
of binding the taxpayer to what I said.
11
These statements misconstrue the Government's argument for admissibility,
11
These statements misconstrue the Government's argument for admissibility,

which is based, not on the law of the case, but on the probative value of the
prior district court opinions as evidence of knowledge and wrongful intent. The
evidence was clearly relevant for this purpose. "Evidence of warnings by
government agents, followed by continued activity of the same character, is
certainly relevant." United States v. Angelini, 607 F.2d 1305, 1311 (9th
Cir.1979).
12
The district court also erred in holding that Collorafi did not have "notice of the
law" as set forth in the district court's earlier opinions until April 24, 1984 [sic],
the date on which his appeal in CV 83-1033 was withdrawn by stipulation. The
district court failed to take into account the fact that the appeal from the
dismissal of Collorafi's declaratory judgment action, which the district court
had found to be "completely without merit", was dismissed on March 6, 1984,
six weeks before the April 15 filing deadline. Moreover, the district court's
decision negates completely the authoritative effect of the district court's earlier
reasoned and judicious statements of the law.
13 decision here had been rendered by a federal court. As we noted in Ebner, such
The
a prior decision is an "authoritative statement" on the law. 782 F.2d at 1125-26. It
was thus powerful evidence that [Collorafi] could no longer reasonably believe that
his contrary view of the law was correct.
14
United States v. Schiff, supra, 801 F.2d at 112. Under the circumstances, we
have no alternative save to treat the district court's holding as an abuse of
discretion.
15
Although the district court made a passing reference to the possibility of

confusion, this did not satisfy the requirements of Fed.R.Evid. 403, which
permits the exclusion of relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially
outweighed by the danger of prejudice and confusion. "When a trial court
excludes evidence under Rule 403, it should provide a clear statement of its
reasons for doing so on the record, ..." and should make a "conscientious
assessment" of whether unfair prejudice or confusion outweighs the proffered
evidence's probative force. United States v. Jamil, 707 F.2d 638, 642 (2d
Cir.1983). A mere statement that evidence would be confusing is not enough;
factual controversy breeds confusion. The purpose of section 403 is to eliminate
misleading and prejudicial confusion.
16
The errors in the district court's ruling were neither eliminated nor mitigated by
the court's allusion to the remote possibility that it might permit its prior
opinions to be used in the cross-examination of Collorafi's former counsel, Ms.
Flipse. The Government was required to prove Collorafi's state of mind, not Ms.
Flipse's. Moreover, the district court gave no assurance that even Ms. Flipse
could be questioned concerning the opinions at issue. The "practical effect" of
the district court's order was the suppression of relevant and proper evidence.
See United States v. Horwitz, 622 F.2d 1101, 1105 (2d Cir.1980), cert. denied,
449 U.S. 1076, 101 S.Ct. 854, 66 L.Ed.2d 799 (1981) (quoting United States v.
Beck, 483 F.2d 203, 206 (3d Cir.1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1132, 94 S.Ct.
873, 38 L.Ed.2d 757 (1974)).
17
The decision and order appealed from must be, and is, reversed. Mandate shall
issue forthwith.

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876 F.

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,

United States Court of Appeals,

John Gleeson, Asst. U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Andrew J.

In 1983, Collorafi and twenty-five other taxpayers, represented by attorney

On December 2, 1983, Judge Mishler granted the Government's motions to

In order for the Government to prosecute successfully for violations of sections

Thus, proof that knowledgeable persons warned the defendant of tax

These statements misconstrue the Government's argument for admissibility,

These statements misconstrue the Government's argument for admissibility,

Although the district court made a passing reference to the possibility of

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