United States v. Roger v. Chastain

Appellant Roger V. Chastain (“Chastain”) was convicted pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7203 of five misdemeanor counts of willfully faihng to timely pay income taxes. Chastain contends (1) the magistrate judge who presided over Chastain’s trial abused his discretion by failing to instmct the jury regarding the relationship between § 7203’s “willfulness” requirement and Chastain’s “good faith” defense; (2) the magistrate judge abused his discretion by refusing to strike the government’s allegedly inaccurate summary of the evidence during closing argument; and (3) the district court erred in vacating the magistrate judge’s downward sentencing departures. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Chastain is an attorney in Northern California. Evidence at trial established that although he filed accurate tax returns for years 1984-1989, he failed to pay taxes total-ling over $100,000. Despite making over $50,000 a year and taking at least five trips to Europe between 1985 and 1989, Chastain told the IRS he did not have enough money to pay his taxes.

In September 1993, Chastain was charged with five misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to timely pay income tax. Chastain consented to…