Tekle

MEMORANDUM ***

Appellant Lily Tekle appeals her conviction on two counts of willful tax evasion, a felony under 26 U.S.C. § 7201 . Appellant contends that her convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence, that the district court gave an improper jury instruction, and that the district court abused its discretion in denying her pretrial motion to sever.

Challenges to the sufficiency of evidence require us to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the convicted crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 807 , 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); United States v. Bazuaye, 240 F.3d 861, 863 (9th Cir.), cert. denied 533 U.S. 959 , 121 S.Ct. 2613 , 150 L.Ed.2d 768 (2001). The elements of felony tax evasion are “(1) the existence of a tax deficiency, (2) willfulness, and (3) an affirmative act of evasion or affirmative attempt to evade.” United States v. Carlson, 235 F.3d 466, 468-69 (9th Cir.2000). After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that there was substantial evidence at trial to permit a rational trier of fact to…