Opinion ID: 1444814
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: When a defendant claims there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction, we must decide whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the government, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Gardner, 488 F.3d 700, 710 (6th Cir.2007). A conviction will be reversed based on insufficient evidence only if it is not supported by substantial and competent evidence upon the record as a whole. United States v. Barnett, 398 F.3d 516, 522 (6th Cir.2005). Furthermore, [c]ircumstantial evidence alone, if substantial and competent, may support a verdict and need not remove every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt. United States v. Tarwater, 308 F.3d 494, 504 (6th Cir.2002) (quoting United States v. Humphrey, 279 F.3d 372, 378 (6th Cir.2002)). Goosby was convicted of thirty violations of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2). An offense under § 7206(2) has three essential elements: (1) that defendant aided, assisted, procured, counseled, advised or caused the preparation and presentation of a return; (2) that the return was fraudulent or false as to a material matter; and (3) that the act of the defendant was willful. United States v. Sassak, 881 F.2d 276, 278 (6th Cir.1989) (quoting United States v. Hooks, 848 F.2d 785, 788-89 (7th Cir. 1988)). Goosby argues that the evidence is insufficient with respect to the second and third elementsmateriality and willfulness.
The element of willfulness requires the government to prove an intentional violation of a known legal duty. Sassak, 881 F.2d at 280 (citing United States v. Pomponio, 429 U.S. 10, 12-13, 97 S.Ct. 22, 50 L.Ed.2d 12 (1976) (per curiam)). Goosby claims that the government failed to prove he intentionally violated the law. However, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, it is sufficient to permit a finding that Goosby intentionally assisted in the filing of false or fraudulent tax returns. The taxpayer witnesses came to Goosby, or to his business, to have their taxes prepared. They were assisted by either Goosby or one of his employees. The taxpayers relied on Goosby to determine what deductions were legal and proper, and some of the employees explicitly testified that they also relied on Goosby to determine the propriety of deductions and to review the returns before they were submitted. All of the employees testified that they were data entry personnel and did not have the knowledge or training to determine whether deductions were proper. Further, Goosby's claim that he did not prepare returns, aside from the one he admits to, is contradicted repeatedly by the taxpayers' testimony. A defendant may be convicted under § 7206 even if his involvement in the preparation of certain returns was minimal. See United States v. Searan, 259 F.3d 434 (6th Cir.2001). In Searan, a mother and son operated a tax preparation business. Id. at 438. The son was convicted under § 7206 and argued there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. Id. at 443. Although the evidence showed that his mother had prepared and signed most of the returns and sometimes even spoke with taxpayers outside his presence, we upheld the son's conviction because he actively participated ... by assuring victims of his and his mother's competency to file tax returns, particularly returns containing allegedly legitimate `deductions' known to few other people. Id. at 445. In this case, the similarity in the type of false deductions claimed on most of the tax returns is strong circumstantial evidence that the defendant willfully submitted tax returns containing false statements. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Goosby was responsible for submitting the tax returns with numerous false deductions and that his actions were willful.
Goosby's second contention involves the requirement that the return be fraudulent or false as to a material matter. Sassak, 881 F.2d at 278. He argues that the government failed to prove the returns were materially false and that it was error for the district court to submit the issue of materiality to the jury. When materiality is an element of the offense, it must be submitted to the jury. United States v. Kone, 307 F.3d 430, 436 (6th Cir.2002). Therefore, the district court did not err in submitting the question of materiality to the jury. Goosby acknowledges that the government presented evidence of materiality at the sentencing hearing, but he argues there was no such proof at trial. However, the evidence at trial established that most of the taxpayers had been audited or filed amended returns, and they paid or owed additional money to the IRS as a result of the false statements. Further, some of the false deductions were so large or inflated, e.g., the approximately $162,000 of gambling losses, that they were obviously material. Therefore, sufficient evidence was presented at trial to prove that the tax returns contained materially false statements.