No such law on the books

Man acquitted of "failure to file" rap

CHICAGO (June 2000)--A state jury has acquitted an Illinois man of "willful failure to file" his state and federal income tax returns because the judge and prosecutor could not identify the state or federal law the man was accused of breaking.

Gaylon "Whitey" Harrell was acquitted on all four counts of his indictment.

During its deliberation, the jury asked the judge and prosecutor to identify and provide a copy of the law that required Harrell to file federal and state income tax returns. Neither could do so.

The jury then acquitted Harrell on all four counts of what jurors determined to be phony charges of "failure to file."

According to a burgeoning number tax protester groups, the court case has implications for most taxpayers' belief that they must file a federal income tax return.

"Even though the parties were in state court and the official charge was "failure to file" state income tax returns, the case was really about the legal requirement to file a federal income tax return," said one group spokesman.

"Because, like most states, Illinois' law mandates the filing of a state income tax return if the Illinois resident is required to file a federal income tax return," said Bob Shultz of the "We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc."

Harrell's case is cited as PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS vs. GAYLON L.HARRELL, Case Number 97CF89 in the Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, St. Clair County, Illinois.

The case is expected to be used as a precedent in myriad similar cases on dockets throughout the United States.