Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-01593/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-01593-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 870
Nature of Suit: Tax Suits
Cause of Action: 26:7604(a) IRS: Complaint to Enforce IRS Summons

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Petitioner,

v.

EDWARD E. BRAMMER, JR.,

 

Respondent.

 

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Case No. 18cv01593 BTM

ORDER GRANTING PETITION

TO ENFORCE INTERNAL

REVENUE SERVICE SUMMONS

The Government has petitioned the Court for an order enforcing the Internal 

Revenue Service (“IRS”) Summons issued to Edward Brammer, Jr., (“Respondent”). 

On July 26, 2018, the Court issued an order setting a hearing on the petition to enforce. 

The hearing was held on the Government’s petition on September 14, 2018, at 2:00 

p.m. Assistant United States Attorney Leslie M. Gardner represented the 

Government. Respondent did not appear. For the reasons explained herein, the 

Government’s petition to enforce the summons is granted.

BACKGROUND

On July 13, 2017, Paul Pitts, a Revenue Officer employed by the IRS, issued 

an IRS summons to Respondent. [Declaration of Revenue Officer Paul Pitts in 

Support of Petition, (“Pitts Decl.”), ¶ 4.] The IRS is conducting an investigation to 

determine Respondent’s ability to pay his tax liabilities for the 2010 - 2010 tax years. 

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[Id. at ¶ 2.] On July 13, 2017, Revenue Officer Pitts served the summons on 

Respondent by leaving an attested copy of the summons at his last and usual place of 

abode. [Id. at ¶ 5.] The summons called for Respondent to appear before the IRS on 

August 15, 2017 at 2:40p.m. [Id. at ¶ 6.] 

On August 15, 2017, Respondent did not appear and did not provide any of the 

summonsed information. [Id.] The Office of Division Counsel of the IRS and the 

U.S. Attorney’s office subsequently sent a letter to Respondent directing him to appear 

before the IRS. [Id. at ¶¶ 7, 9.] Respondent did not appear and did not provide the 

IRS with the testimony and documents requested by the summons. [Id. at ¶¶ 8, 10.]

On July 13, 2018, the Government petitioned the Court to enforce the summons. 

On July 26, 2018, the Court ordered that Respondent appear before the Court on 

September 14, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. The Court also ordered Respondent to respond with 

any defense or opposition to the petition at least 14 days prior to the hearing date. 

Respondent did not file a written response and did not appear at the hearing.

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a)(1), the Secretary of the Treasury may “examine 

any books, papers, records, or other data which may be relevant or material” in 

connection with “ascertaining the correctness of any return, making a return where 

none has been made, determining the liability of any person for any internal revenue 

. . . or collecting any such liability.” Section 7602(a)(1) authorizes the Secretary to 

issue summonses to compel persons in possession of such books, papers, records, or 

other data to appear and produce the same and/or give testimony.

In order to obtain judicial enforcement of an IRS summons, the United States 

“must first establish its ‘good faith’ by showing that the summons: (1) is issued for a 

legitimate purpose; (2) seeks information relevant to that purpose; (3) seeks 

information that is not already within the IRS’s possession; and (4) satisfies all 

administrative steps required by the United States Code.” Fortney v. United States, 

59 F.3d 117, 119 (9th Cir. 1995) (citing United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 57-58 

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(1964)). “The government’s burden is a ‘slight one’ and typically is satisfied by the 

introduction of the sworn declaration of the revenue agent who issued the summons 

that Powell requirements have been met.” Id. at 120. Once the government has made 

a prima facie showing that enforcement of the summons is appropriate, the burden 

shifts to the Respondent to show that enforcement of the summons would be an abuse 

of the court’s process. Powell, 379 U.S. at 58. The Supreme Court has characterized 

respondent’s burden as a heavy one. Id.

The Government’s petition and Revenue Officer Pitts’ supporting declaration 

satisfy all four elements of the Powell standard. First, the IRS is conducting an 

investigation to determine the collectability of Respondent’s tax liabilities for the 2005 

- 2010 tax years. [Pitts Decl., ¶ 2.] Such an investigation is expressly authorized by

26 U.S.C. § 7602(a). The Internal Revenue Code explicitly allows the issuance of a 

summons for the purpose of determining “the liability of any person for any internal 

revenue tax . . . or collecting any such liability . . .” 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a). Thus, the 

summons was issued for a legitimate purpose. Second, Revenue Officer Pitts has 

declared in his declaration that the information requested by the summons may be 

relevant to determine the collectability of Respondent’s tax liabilities. [Id. at ¶ 14.] 

Third, the IRS does not already possess the testimony, papers, records, and other data 

sought by the summons issued to Respondent. [Id. ¶ 12.] Finally, the IRS has 

followed and exhausted all required administrative steps, but Respondent has not 

complied with the summons. [Id. at ¶ 13.] Thus, the Government has made prima 

facie showing that it is entitled to judicial enforcement of the summons.

CONCLUSION

For the reasons set forth herein, the Government’s petition to enforce the IRS 

summons is GRANTED. Respondent, Edward Brammer, Jr., is directed to appear 

before IRS Revenue Officer Eric Stallworth or a designee, on October 25, 2018, at 

10:00 a.m., at the offices of the Internal Revenue Service located at 333 W. Broadway, 

Suite 906, San Diego, California, 92101, and to produce the documents and give 

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testimony as directed in the summons. The Government shall serve a copy of this 

Order upon Respondent in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 5, within 7 days of the date 

that this Order is served upon counsel for the Government, or as soon thereafter as 

possible. Proof of service shall be filed with the Clerk of Court as soon as practicable. 

Respondent is hereby notified that failure to comply with this Order may 

subject him to sanctions for contempt of court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATE: October 9, 2018

 

BARRY TED MOSKOWITZ, Chief Judge

United States District Court

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