Posted on 09/01/2005 10:07:21 PM PDT by Jubal Harshaw
Tax Court findings secretly changed in at least 5 cases
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Tax Court judges secretly changed the findings of lower level trial judges in at least five cases over the past decade,
Chief Tax Court Judge Joel Gerber ordered that a copy of each lower level judge's finding be sent to the parties involved and stated that "the decisions in these cases are final ... and remain in full force and effect."
Some attorneys believe Gerber's intended message is that the court believes there is no avenue to challenge the decisions.
Tax Court Clerk Robert DiTrolio reported that after "an exhaustive search" only 117 of the lower level trial judge findings could be located. There was no explanation for why some of the findings were found and most were not.
Until 1984 findings by special trial judges were public record. But a rule change made them secret.
"the figures ... suggest that the percentage of cases in which the opinion reached a different result from the [special trial judge finding] increased after ... the reports were no longer included in the record,"
"It's incredibly disturbing to win a case at trial and then have a decision issued which is the complete opposite and never know that you won in the first place," said Ungerman. "It's unprecedented and a very strange situation."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
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