No, not Jesse Mitchell III and Darrilyn W. Mitchell, T. C. Memo. 2026-102, filed 9/30/26. And ex-Ch J Kathleen (“TBS- The Big Shillelagh”) Kerrigan is far too well-bred to say what Alfonso Bedoya did say in the 1948 John Huston classic “We ain’t got no badges.” The most-quoted version conflates two separate lines.

But it turns out IRS ain’t got no badges. Of fraud, that is, so 3SOL puts paid to Jesse’s SND.

Jesse fell into the clutches of a dodgeflogger who peddled phony deductions, but escaped. His return for year at issue did have some dodgy deductions, but he concealed nothing, filed returns, didn’t have a pattern of understating income or overstating deductions, he made no inconsistent explanations, he and his preparer testified honestly opn the trial, didn’t deal in cash, and didn’t conceal assets. The only neutral badge is the phony deductions taken at the advice of the dodgeflogger, but “(P)etitioner relied upon the advice of others. He testified that he was ‘impressed by [flogger].’ Petitioner probably should have known the [flogger’s] Marketing Plan was too good to be true. From his testimony we conclude that petitioner did not have scienter and that his actions were not sinister.” T. C. Memo. 2026-102, at pp. 17-18.

True, Jesse did get an A in the income tax course he took at Ole Miss Law School. But his practice was plaintiffs’ PI, and he never prepared returns or gave tax advice. Taishoff says I’ve seen enough plaintiffs’ PI lawyers get Section 104 wrong, to say nothing of the rest of the IRC and Regs. Even one as famous as F. Lee Bailey. An A in a law school course years ago doesn’t qualify an attorney to discuss taxes. I was lucky to get a hook minoo sixty-plus years ago and swore at the time I’d never do taxes. Look at me now.