Opinion ID: 3065476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cherie Bright

Text: [9] Cherie Bright was in contempt of the enforcement order, on numerous grounds. The government bore the burden to show “ ‘(1) that [Cherie] violated the court order, (2) beyond substantial compliance, (3) not based on a good faith and reasonable interpretation of the order, (4) by clear and convincing evidence.’ ” Labor/Cmty. Strategy Ctr. v. L.A. County Metro. Trans. Auth., 564 F.3d 1115, 1123 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting In re Dual-Deck Video Cassette Recorder UNITED STATES v. BRIGHT 3149 Antitrust Litig., 10 F.3d 693, 695 (9th Cir. 1993)). When defending against a finding of contempt after an adversary enforcement proceeding, a taxpayer cannot relitigate the Fifth Amendment privilege or lack of custody or control. See United States v. Rylander, 460 U.S. 752, 757 (1983) (custody or control); Brown, 918 F.2d at 83 (constitutional claims). [10] The district court properly found that the government had shown Cherie to be in violation of the enforcement order. This finding is justifiable based solely on her failure to produce documents related to the two previously identified offshore accounts named in the summons. Crucially, the district court explained “that even if it were . . . to exclude the additional offshore credit card documents as a basis for finding contempt, the ultimate finding of contempt would remain undisturbed.” Although we have held that the foregone conclusion exception does not apply to the two additional offshore credit cards, we agree that Cherie’s noncompliance as to the two previously identified accounts justified the district court’s finding of contempt. Moreover, her failure to produce other documents named in the summonses concerning loans, insurance claims and scholarships provided additional support for the court’s finding.5 [11] Once the government has established a prima facie case of contempt, a taxpayer may avoid sanctions by demonstrating a present inability to comply with the enforcement order. See Drollinger, 80 F.3d at 393. When a party has taken preemptive steps to make compliance more difficult, the burden to prove inability to comply is particularly high. See FTC v. Affordable Media, LLC, 179 F.3d 1228, 1241 (9th Cir. 5 Although we expressed concerns at oral argument concerning whether the district court had considered Cherie’s final, detailed declaration, the Brights conceded that the district court had reviewed all materials de novo prior to finding Cherie and Benjamin in contempt. They take issue only with the court’s finding that they were not in full compliance. This finding was not clearly erroneous. 3150 UNITED STATES v. BRIGHT 1999). Cherie failed to show that she could not produce offshore credit card documents. Nor was the district court required, in the absence of corroborating evidence, to credit Cherie’s declaration that other documents named in the summonses did not exist. See Maggio v. Zeitz, 333 U.S. 56, 75-76 (1948). Finally, although Cherie’s former business partner did not produce some documents upon her request, the district court properly found that Cherie’s late, perfunctory effort to obtain documents did not satisfy her burden. Cf. United States v. Hayes, 722 F.2d 723, 725-26 (11th Cir. 1984) (per curiam) (holding that a request for documents is insufficient to establish present inability to comply without proof of pursuit of legal avenues to compel production).