(originally launched into cyberspace on 05/23/2008)
Sometimes prosecutors mistakenly prosecute innocent people. And
sometimes they INTENTIONALLY prosecute those they KNOW aren't
guilty. One indication of whether the latter is the case is how
many ways the prosecution lies and cheats in order to get a
conviction. Well, in my case, the number of ways they did it could
fill a book--and, in fact, DID fill a book, and a rather
substantial book at that.
In addition to lying, mischaracterizing facts, demonizing the
accused, and other dishonest tricks, unscrupulous prosecutors (like
the ones handling my case, Floyd Miller and Shawn Noud) also work
hard to make sure that no one is allowed to say the TRUTH in court,
as it may interfere with their lies.
At my trial, the government's entire case was that people OTHER
than me (federal bureaucrats and some lower court judges) had
asserted that my conclusions, or similar conclusions, were
incorrect. Therefore, the jury was supposed to assume that it was
literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to believe my conclusions, because some
people had "told" me that I was wrong. The first thing the
prosecutors said to the jury about me sums it up nicely:
“This is a case about a man who knew the law, who defied the law.
The defendant, Larken Rose, failed to file tax returns for five
years, even after receiving, time and time again, notice from the
IRS that he had a duty to file his return and pay taxes.”
So, according to them, it was impossible for me to believe in the
861 evidence, because other people had ASSERTED that I owed the
tax. Aside from the fundamental lunacy of that argument, there is
another problem with it: What about all the people who told me that
my conclusions were CORRECT? When several former IRS employees and
a former federal prosecutor, not to mention dozens of attorneys and
CPAs, "told" me I was RIGHT, didn't that count for anything?
Apparently not. At trial I was forbidden from talking about other
people, including people who had been feds, AGREEING with my
conclusions, and forbidden from playing recordings of radio shows
on which I appeared with such people. Why? Because, accordingly to
Judge Michael Baylson, “what other people believe is not relevant
as to the defendant’s willfulness.” I guess what he meant was that
it's irrelevant when other people AGREE with me, but perfectly
relevant when people DISAGREE with me--which was the government's
ENTIRE case. So, you see, when someone from the IRS says "You're
wrong," that is somehow proof of my guilt, but when someone from
the IRS says "Holy smokes, you're RIGHT!," that's utterly
irrelevant and the jury shouldn't be allowed to hear about it.
And then, as if that double standard wasn't patently absurd enough,
the prosecution used the opportunity to deceive the jury even more.
For example, the lead prosecutor in my case, Floyd Miller, whined
to the jury that I thought I was the “only person in the
continental [huh?] United States who has ever made an accurate
determination of what is in the Internal Revenue Code.” So, after
making sure I wasn't ALLOWED to talk about all the people who had
agreed with my conclusions, he implied that NO ONE agreed with
them, and that I was the only one who held those beliefs. (He also
ignored the fact that I had already repeatedly testified that I'm
not even the one who "discovered" the 861 evidence.)
This pattern of suppressing evidence, and then using the lack of
evidence as proof of something, continued throughout the trial. For
example, I was also forbidden from talking about the campaign we
did targeting around 600 H&R Block offices with questions about the
861 evidence. I called Peter McCandless as a witness to talk about
that, since he had organized the campaign, but he wasn't allowed to
discuss what we had asked, or what the response (or lack of
response) was.
And then Floyd Miller, that paragon of dishonesty, made it a point
to stress to the jury how, though they heard me talking about
reading the law and stuff, they never heard me say “that I went to
an accountant, or a tax lawyer, or H&R Block for that matter, here
in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to test the validity of my
beliefs. Not once.” Yeah, they never heard me say that, because,
with the help of the judge, Mr. Miller had made sure that I wasn't
ALLOWED to say that. So the DOJ suppressed exculpatory evidence,
and then cited the LACK of that evidence as proof of my guilt.
Sound fair?
(For the whole story in all its gruesome detail, pre-order your
copy of "Kicking the Dragon (Confessions of a Tax Heretic)" by
sending $22 to the address below, or by ordering online at
. Once the books are available,
probably in the first week of June, orders will be filled in the
order they were received.)
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
P.O. Box 653
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
