Posted on 11/21/2007 7:18:39 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A famed civil-rights lawyer convicted of federal tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud has been asked to teach an undergraduate course on law, morality and social justice at a university, his attorney said Wednesday in urging a judge to not impose a prison sentence.
Stephen Yagman, 63, was found guilty of trying to avoid paying more than $100,000 in federal income taxes while living what prosecutors painted as a lavish lifestyle that included Aspen vacations, high-end suits from London, and fine dining.
At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, attorney Barry Tarlow said his client should be spared prison because he was in poor health, would be vulnerable to attack and because he could share with aspiring lawyers his considerable civil rights experience.
"He still has a way to contribute," Tarlow said. "There's a number of professors over there who are interested in having him teach."
University of California, Los Angeles, professor Frances Ohlsen asked Yagman to teach the undergraduate course, Tarlow said.
Wednesday's hearing was continued until Monday, after U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson said he needed more time to hear from government prosecutors and to listen to a statement Yagman plans to make.
Yagman led high-profile legal campaigns against police, and over several years filed dozens of lawsuits claiming that Los Angeles police abused and framed suspects and made false arrests.
He also sued President Bush and other officials for alleged violations of constitutional rights of a detainee at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sought class-action status on behalf of all detainees.
Prosecutors are arguing that Yagman should serve a minimum of nine years in prison. The judge is not bound to accept that recommendation, and Yagman's lawyers argued that it would be far too harsh a punishment.
Calling it a "vindictive prosecution," Tarlow said the government had a "scorched-earth policy" in trying his client.
Tarlow said Yagman would be physically endangered should he be incarcerated. Because he worked as an attorney for the Christopher Commission, which was formed to examine allegations of excessive force in the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney King beating in the early 1990s, he has made plenty of enemies in the law-enforcement world, Tarlow said.
And he is vulnerable to attack from racist groups within the prison system, Tarlow argued, because he has previously represented minorities.
"There's a great deal of acrimony from law enforcement," Tarlow said, adding that a prison guard could "turn his head" if Yagman were to be assaulted by "some prospect for the Aryan Brotherhood."
The hearing was put on hold before prosecutors could respond to Tarlow's assertions. They are expected to address these Monday, as well as explain to the judge why they believe nine years is an appropriate minimum sentence.
Yagman filed for bankruptcy in 1999 but prosecutors said he failed to disclose that he lived in a 2,800-square-foot home near the beach in Venice. He had, however, made mortgage and property tax payments on the property and claimed the homeowner's mortgage-interest deduction on his tax returns.
The government argued that Yagman paid only a fraction of his income taxes from 1994 to 1997, eventually owing the IRS more than $158,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties. Prosecutors also alleged he failed to pay $30,000 in payroll taxes that his law firm owed during that period and claimed he hid about $617,000 he received from his mother and elderly relatives from the IRS.
Yagman also tried to hide $70,000 in assets to avoid paying out a civil judgment awarded against him and his firm in 1996, prosecutors said.
It’s rather comical.
He’d make a fine jailhouse lawyer, I’m sure.
...and Warren Jeffs could teach Pastoral Ethics, Congregation Building and Church Discipline in a seminary, sharing with aspiring pastors his vast experience as a prophet and church leader.
And Tookie could teach creative writing, sharing with aspiring authors of children's books...oh, wait; we already executed him.
Being acquainted with the North Hollywood shootout and Yagman’s disgraceful lawsuit, I won’t cry if he serves every minute of it.
Bill klink is the onlyest lawyer qualified to teach morals and ethics. Hic! Hic, I say!
Sure, keep up the propaganda that only white people are racists.
And liberals wonder why they make conservatives so crazy. May God help our next generations and make them smart enough to deal with their vacuous teachers.
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