The wheels of justice grind slowly. Sometimes, you don’t get justice at the trial level. You have to push on to the courts of appeals. This is exactly what happened in United States v. Johnson, Case No. 14-3760 (6th Cir. 2015). Johnson was Indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio for making a material false statement on his 2006 federal income tax return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1). Pinales Stachler attorneys, Martin Pinales and Candace Crouse, in consultation with Miami CPA, Carlos M. Samlut, filed a Motion to Dismiss the Indictment as untimely because it was filed outside of the statute of limitations. They argued that because Johnson filed his 2006 return early, the applicable statute of limitations expired on April 15, 2013 – six years after the filing deadline. He was indicted on April 16, 2013. The district court denied the Motion, holding that the indictment was timely under 28 U.S.C. § 7503, which the court held extended the 2006 filing deadline to April 17 (because April 15 was a Sunday and April 16 was a legal holiday). Johnson appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Once at the appellate level, the Government conceded that the Indictment was untimely and the criminal action was barred by the statute of limitations. The Government agreed that the case should be remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss the Indictment. The Sixth Circuit held, “Given that the government has confessed error on the statute of limitations issues, the other issues raised by Johnson are now moot.”
Congratulations to Pinales Stachler attorneys, Martin Pinales and Candace Crouse, Pinales Stachler law clerk, Cameron Downer, and CPA Carlos Samlut for their excellent work at the trial level on this case.
A copy of the Order Dismissing Indictment can be found here: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/15a0240n-06.pdf
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