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Judge Rules: Not Filing Since 1999 Is No Crime

After a February 24 trial on a Florida Bar Association complaint alleging that Charles “Chuck” Behm, a Florida attorney, had violated bar rules by committing a criminal act in refusing to file federal income tax returns since 1999, Judge Tyrie W. Boyer, a county judge in Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in Jacksonville, ruled that Behm had committed no criminal act.

The Florida Bar was obviously assisted by either DOJ, the IRS, or both because its presentation, right down to including the standard name calling and the stale half truths was DOJ SOP. From opening statement to close, the DOJ’s fingerprints were all over the case. The only new twist was DOJ’s latest slam against patriots, introducing a new name for what it calls anti-government groups like “tax protesters,” “tax defiers,” and now “Constitutionalists!” [Oh, the horror! Not that!] Behm’s defense attorney, Truth Attack’s Tom Cryer, had plenty to say about that in his response.

In his cross examination of the Bar’s “expert” witness, Cryer was able to force the witness to admit that he could not cite any specific authority making Behm liable for the income tax, and that the absence of such a statute is not among the official list of “frivolous” arguments. The witness also admitted on cross examination that he did not really have a clear definition of “income.”

Chuck Behm then testified that his research into the code and Supreme Court authorities forced him to conclude that he is not liable for the federal income tax and, therefore, not among those required to file returns, that he had no income within the meaning of the Constitution and the Sixteenth Amendment, and that he is engaging in no activity within the federal government’s power to tax. Chuck was very thorough and precise in describing his research and the authorities, making a very clear and convincing account of his command of the subject.

In her closing, the Bar Counsel argued that people depend upon attorneys to set an example by following and supporting the government and its laws. Cryer rebutted that argument by contending that people do not depend on attorneys to support the government, but to support the Constitution, to protect their rights, and to stand up to the government when it abuses either.

Judge Boyer ruled that Behm had committed no criminal act by refusing to file federal income taxes, but the case is far from over. He also ruled that the failure to file was unlawful although he could give no specific basis for that finding. Now the case goes to the Florida Supreme Court for its ruling, and in that process the court will be challenged to show what law subjects Behm to liability and, hence, a lawful duty to file returns and pay income taxes.

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