Not in Tax Court

I was admonished by Salvatore Bochicchio, CPA, back in 2011, that what I thought was obvious maybe wasn’t so obvious. See my blogpost “Maybe Not So Obvious,” 8/28/11.

So today I post the story of Jesus Rodriguez & Juanita Rodriguez, Docket No. 1690-15S, filed 12/30/15. The result is obvious to me, but maybe not to all my readers, or those who casually come upon my website.

Here’s Ch J Michael B (“Iron Mike”) Thornton, who will doubtless rule the forthcoming annual Tax Court Judicial Conferences with a rod of iron, as suggested by a much more exalted source, to tell the story.

“…petitioner Jesus Rodriguez made an informal request for a jury trial.” Order, at p. 1.

Sorry, Jesus, it ain’t gonna happen.

Remember, when a judge says something is “well-settled,” with or without a hyphen, or in this case “well established,” start packing your litigation bag and heading for the door. And a double Grey Goose Gibson, up. You’ll need it.

“It is well established that a taxpayer who elects to bring suit in the Tax Court has no right, statutory or constitutional, to a trial by jury. The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to jury trial ‘in suits at common law,’ however, because there was no right of action at common law against a sovereign, enforceable by jury trial or otherwise, there is no constitutional right to a jury trial in a suit against the United States. Thus, there is a right to a jury trial in actions against the United States only if a statute so provides and Congress has not so provided where a taxpayer has elected not to pay the assessment and has sued for a redetermination in the Tax Court. If a taxpayer wishes for a trial by jury, he must pay the tax allegedly owed and sue for a refund in district court. 28 U.S.C. secs 2402 and 1346(a)(1).” Order, at p. 1. (Citations omitted).

Neither Perry Mason nor Matlock need apply.