United States v. Janetha Brooksby

Janetha Brooksby was charged in a two count indictment with falsely subscribing her income tax returns, a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1). After a jury trial, she was convicted. She filed a motion to set aside the jury verdict and enter a judgment of acquittal and a motion for a new trial. The court denied both motions. She appeals due to the failure of the trial court to give a jury instruction listing all of the elements of the offense which had to be proven in order to find her guilty. Because the jury was not properly instructed, the conviction is reversed, the verdict set aside and the case remanded for a new trial with a properly instructed jury.

FACTS

Janetha Brooksby worked as a receptionist and kept the books in her husband’s veterinary clinic during calendar years 1973 and 1974. One of her duties was to receive the payment from the animal’s owner and issue a receipt for the payment. Later, she was to enter the receipts in a daily receipts journal. This daily receipts journal was used by their accountant to prepare the Brooksby’s income tax returns for 1973 and 1974.

By destroying some of the receipts and not entering those in the daily receipts journal, Ms. Brooksby…