United States v. Cirillo, 12302.
| Decision Date | 30 December 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 12302.,12302. |
| Citation | 251 F.2d 638 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Joseph A. CIRILLO, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Robert S. Grigsby, Pittsburgh, Pa. (James C. Larrimer, Pittsburgh, Pa., on the brief), for appellant.
Donald C. Bush, Pittsburgh, Pa. (D. Malcolm Anderson, U. S. Atty., Pittsburgh, Pa., on the brief), for appellee.
Before GOODRICH, McLAUGHLIN and HASTIE, Circuit Judges.
The appellant has been convicted of the misdemeanors of willfully failing to file income tax returns for the years 1953 and 1954; in violation of § 145(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, 53 Stat. 62, 26 U.S.C. § 145(a) for the year 1953, and in violation of § 7203 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 68A Stat. 851, 26 U.S.C. § 7203, for the year 1954. For these offenses jail sentences of ninety days, to run concurrently, and fines of $500 have been imposed.
The only points which require discussion are those which appellant raises with reference to criminal intent. The statute provides that "any person * * * required by law * * * to make a return * * * who willfully fails to * * * make such return * * * shall * * * be guilty of a misdemeanor * * *." Was there a proper charge and was there adequate proof of the "willfulness" which is an essential element of criminal failure to file income tax returns?
In explaining to the jury the state of mind which had to be shown to justify a guilty verdict in this case, the court below defined "willful" as "voluntary, purposeful, deliberate, intentional as distinguished from accidental, inadvertent or negligent." The court added that "willful" had the connotation of "done with a bad purpose or done without justifiable excuse, or done stubbornly or obstinately or perversely, or with bad motives." To this the court added, "that the only bad purpose or motive which it is necessary for the government to prove in this case is the deliberate intention not to file a return which the defendant knew ought to be filed so that the government would not know the extent of his liability." Counsel for the defendant objected that the court had not made clear the necessity of showing "evil intent and bad purpose". The court then added this admonition: "don't take just one phrase of what I said about willfulness; take it all, everything together, and if you find that he knowingly, willfully, failed to make a return with criminal intent to avoid the law, if you find that beyond a reasonable doubt, you may find him guilty, otherwise you will acquit him."
We find nothing erroneous or confusing in this instruction. Cf. United States v. Litman, 3 Cir., 1957, 246 F.2d 206; Haskell v. United States, 10 Cir., 1957, 241 F.2d 790; Yarborough v. United States, 4 Cir., 1956, 230 F.2d 56; and see the explanation of the meaning of willfulness in relation to the felony of tax evasion under § 145(b)...
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State v. Fendler, s. 1
...a tax specialist. This fact alone would permit the inference that appellant knew of his duty to file the return. United States v. Cirillo, 251 F.2d 638, 639 (3rd Cir. 1957), cert. denied, 356 U.S. 949, 78 S.Ct. 914, 2 L.Ed.2d 843 (1958); Leet v. State, 203 Md. 285, 100 A.2d 789 (App.1953). ......
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Edwards v. United States
...the duty imposed by law, or even gross negligence, unattended by `evil motive' are not probative of `willfulness'"); United States v. Cirillo, 251 F.2d 638 (3d Cir. 1957), cert. denied, 356 U.S. 949, 78 S.Ct. 914, 2 L.Ed. 2d 843 (1958) ("`willfulness' requires knowledge of the legal obligat......
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United States v. Alker, 12313.
...1954, 348 U.S. 121, 129, 75 S.Ct. 127, 99 L.Ed. 150; Blackwell v. United States, 8 Cir., 1957, 244 F.2d 423, 429. 35 United States v. Cirillo, 3 Cir., 1957, 251 F.2d 638, certiorari denied 1958, 356 U.S. 949, 78 S.Ct. 914, 2 L.Ed.2d 843; 26 U.S.C.A. (I.R.C.1939) § 145(a), and 26 U.S.C.A. (I......
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United States v. Malinowski, Crim. A. No. 70-717.
...that the act is done voluntarily and intentionally, and with the specific intent to do that which the law forbids. In United States v. Cirillo, 251 F.2d 638 (3 Cir. 1957), cert. denied 356 U.S. 949, 78 S.Ct. 914, 2 L. Ed.2d 843 (1958), the Third Circuit held that the necessary wilfulness wa......