People v. Wolfe

• Decision Date: 15 August 1980
• Docket Number: No. 16071,16071
• Citation: 409 N.E.2d 143,86 Ill.App.3d 1134
• Parties: , 42 Ill.Dec. 648 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry E. WOLFE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 143

409 N.E.2d 143

86 Ill.App.3d 1134, 42 Ill.Dec. 648

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry E. WOLFE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 16071.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Aug. 15, 1980.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 9, 1980.

Larry E. Wolfe, pro se.

William J. Scott, Atty. Gen. of Ill., Steven J. Teplinsky, Asst. Atty. Gen., Springfield, for plaintiff-appellee.

CRAVEN, Justice:

The defendant, Larry E. Wolfe, was charged with two counts of wilful failure to file Illinois Income Tax Returns under the authority of section 13-1301 of the Illinois Income Tax Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1977, ch. 120, par. 13-1301).

Defendant was brought to trial and was found guilty by a jury on April 17, 1979.

The basis for the two charges was defendant's failure to file an Illinois Income Tax return for the years 1975 and 1976. Defendant does not challenge the wilful failure to file. The trial court sentenced defendant to a fine of $150 on count I and $350 on count II. The defendant appeals his conviction, alleging a multitude of errors, including a challenge to proper venue, the power of the Attorney General to prosecute at trial, whether defendant was proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and finally, the constitutionality of the Illinois Income Tax Act.

Section 13-1301 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1977, ch. 120, par. 13-1301) provides in pertinent part:

"Any person who is subject to the provisions of this Act and who willfully fails to file a return, * * * or who willfully attempts in any other manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this Act or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties, be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor."

It is undisputed that the defendant meets the requirements for a person subject to this Act in that he was at all times pertinent hereto a resident of the State of Illinois and he was required to make tax returns because his income in 1975 was $6,925.95, and in 1976 was $9,451.32, which amounts of income require filing a Federal and State return.

Furthermore, it was undisputed that defendant did not file an Illinois Income Tax return for the years 1975 and 1976, indeed defendant admitted it. In other words, the defendant challenges the propriety of the law, not that it does not prohibit his conduct.

The defendant challenges the Income Tax Act's constitutionality, alleging that he is a merchant and trader at law as he does not write checks and that, therefore, he is on a cash basis. The Supreme Court of Illinois, in Thorpe v. Mahin (1969), 43 Ill.2d 36, 250 N.E.2d 633, clearly held that the Illinois Income Tax Act was constitutional.

Next, it is alleged by the defendant that the Attorney General had no authority to prosecute the cause at trial. We find that contention wholly without merit. The State's Attorney for Sangamon County specifically requested that the Attorney General's special assistant assume primary responsibility for the prosecution of the case. Further, in People v. Massarella (1978), 72 Ill.2d 531, 21 Ill.Dec. 898, 382 N.E.2d 262, it was held that the Attorney General was authorized to appear on behalf of the State's Attorney where the latter failed to object.

Wolfe was a lifelong resident...