United States v. James G. Blackwood

James Blackwood (Blackwood) appeals his conviction on four counts of making false claims against the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 287 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1294 (1), and we affirm.

Blackwood was charged with submitting false income tax returns in the names of four different people, in order to cash the refunds. Blackwood contends that he never filed these false returns, rather his housekeeper submitted them. Blackwood did not dispute that the returns were false. The only issue at trial was whether he prepared and submitted the false returns.

The government introduced evidence of Blackwood’s prior conviction in 1986 for a similar offense to show plan and intent. The government also produced an expert who testified that the handwriting on the returns and the W-2 forms matched an exemplar of Blackwood’s handwriting. IRS locator numbers had been placed at the top right-hand corner of each return indicating that each had been filed with the IRS according to normal procedures. Last, Blackwood’s name and address were listed as the return address to receive the refunds.

On appeal, Blackwood contends that the district court erred by…