Opinion ID: 234599
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Election between the Evasion Counts and Wrongful Failure to File Counts.

Text: 24 The defendant endeavored to compel the prosecution to elect between counts four and five, which were for the willful attempt to evade under section 145(b), and counts six and seven, which charged willful failure to file returns for the same two years, under section 145(a). The argument is that the provision against double jeopardy makes it unconstitutional to make the misdemeanor of failing to file one of the circumstances to be considered in determining whether there has been any attempt to evade the tax, a felony. 25 Sections 145(a) and (b) define separate offenses. Since Spies v. United States, 1943, 317 U.S. 492, 63 S.Ct. 364, 87 L.Ed. 418, it has been clear that a showing of a failure to file plus other affirmative acts is sufficient to sustain a conviction under section 145(b), but that a willful failure to file alone is not sufficient. See United States v. Smith, 3 Cir., 1953, 206 F.2d 905. In the present case, the trial court correctly charged that there was evidence of acts of commission which could supply the needed quantum: for example, defendant's avoidance of making proper books of account and records; his failure to enter some items in the duplicate receipt books that he did finally begin to keep; and the cashing of checks without clearance through his bank account. See Spies v. United States, supra, 317 U.S. at page 499, 63 S.Ct. at page 368. 26 Nevertheless, the question remains whether, since the section 145(a) violation was used to prove in part the section 145(b) violation, defendant could be convicted for the misdemeanor. The governing rule has been reiterated recently by the Supreme Court in Pereira v. United States, 1954, 347 U.S. 1, 9, 74 S.Ct. 358, 363:    [D]efendant may be convicted of [two separate offenses] even though the charges arise from a single act or series of acts, so long as each requires the proof of a fact not essential to the other. It is not necessary to prove a failure to file to convict for an attempt to evade; for example, section 145(b) may be violated by the filing of a false return. See United States v. Croessant, 3 Cir., 1949, 178 F.2d 96, certiorari denied, 1950, 339 U.S. 927, 70 S.Ct. 626, 94 L.Ed. 1348. Conversely, it is not necessary to show the acts of commission required by the Spies case to prove a willful failure to file a return. For further differences, see O'Brien v. United States, 7 Cir., 51 F.2d 193, certiorari denied, 1931, 284 U.S. 673, 52 S.Ct. 129, 76 L.Ed. 569. Defendant argues that, even though failure to file a return need not be shown to prove an attempt to evade, the double jeopardy provision is applicable when that failure is in fact used. The short answer to this contention is that the rule itself, as quoted above, sanctions the use of one act as part of the proof of both offenses. 27