Court Opinion

ID: 9463142
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:59:01.145188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:56.898583
License: Public Domain

ELY, Circuit Judge
(concurring):
The trial judge’s comment to the effect that a particular witness for the defense should be prosecuted, made in the presence of the jury, is, to me, thoroughly inexplicable. In almost any other case of which I can conceive, essential fairness would require that the judgment of conviction be reversed and the appellant afforded a new trial.
In the present case, however, it is apparent that there was no defense whatsoever to the crime of which Schmitz was accused. There is hardly a doubt that Schmitz’ objection to the national tax laws, and his defiance thereof, was sincere. But the tax laws in question are constitutional and, while burdensome, are generally obeyed by the responsible citizens of our democracy. This obedience probably stems from the recognition that our citizenry generally receives more valued, guaranteed rights in exchange for its tax payments than the peoples of any other country of our planet.
As I see it, it would be only through the application of the so-called doctrine of “jury nullification” that Schmitz could have been acquitted. Thus, despite the thoughtless and inappropriate comment of the district judge, I have no choice, conscientiously, save to concur in the majority’s opinion.