blackout of news from District court Hawaii

[alohabunny]

A criminal tax case was commenced in the Hawaii District Court in Honolulu Hawaii on January 8th, 2008 IRS v. Hamlet C. Bennett in Susan O Mollway's court, Leslie E. Osborne Jr. prosecutor, the trial lasted until January 29th and then there was no news as to the verdict or any other press coverage.....what could have happened to a jury trial that lasted 2 weeks and then nothing was decided or if it was, why was there no press release as to the outcome? There was nothing in the news papers about this trial and nothing regarding the verdict in the entire news media nationwide, how could that be???

[wserra]

As of Friday morning, the jury was still out. The last entry in PACER (Thursday):

EP : FURTHER JURY DELIBERATION - 2ND DAY - Jurors continue their deliberation. Note From the Jury #1 - Defendant Hamlet Bennett not present, and his presence is waived. William Domingo, Clare Connors and Leslie Osborne present. Note addressed and responded to. Notes From the Jury #2 and 3 - Defendant Hamlet Bennett not present, and his presence is waived. William Domingo, Lowell Becraft, Clare Connors and Leslie Osborne all present by phone. Notes addressed and responded to. Notes from the Jury #4 and 5 - Defendant Hamlet Bennett not present, and his presence is waived. William Domingo, Clare Connors and Leslie Osborne present by phone. Notes addressed and responded to. Further Jury Deliberation continued to 2/1/08 @ 9:00 a.m. SOM.(Jury Trial as to Hamlet C. Bennett held on 1/31/2008, as to Hamlet C. Bennett( Jury Trial continued to 09:00 AM on 2/1/2008 before JUDGE SUSAN OKI MOLLWAY.) (Court Reporter Debra Chun.) (JUDGE SUSAN OKI MOLLWAY)(emt, ) (Entered: 02/01/2008)

As for the absence of press coverage: well, the guy's not Wesley Snipes.

[Demosthenes]

A hung jury isn't news.

[Judge Roy Bean]

...There was nothing in the news papers about this trial and nothing regarding the verdict in the entire news media nationwide, how could that be???

1 - As previsouly noted, it's not over.
2 - For most editors in the "general" news business, a tax trial isn't something they send someone to, unless of course one or more of the parties involved are famous (or infamous). But even then, the story is less about the tax issues than the person, what they wore, their attorneys, the arrival and departure entourage, who was with them in court or who wasn't, how they appeared during testimony, etc. Those are the human element bits that fill space and get readers to look.
3 - There are far more tax trials than there are qualified reporters to send them to. By qualified I am referring to an experienced journalist who can craft a readable, let alone accurate, story from what are some of the most boring and arcane topics ever to be presented in a courtroom.
4 - They almost always turn out the same. Remember the old adage about a plane landing not being news; it's when one crashes that it's news.
5 - Compared to politics, violent crime, the economy, mortgage fraud or the peccadillos of the glitteratti, a tax trial doesn't even show up on the public interest meter, with the notable exception of the denizens of Quatloosia. But statistically, we're not even an identifiable target demographic. We're an odd, but very small lot.

[Demosthenes]

This is case the tax protesters have been declaring a victory all weekend because the jury was unable to return a verdict. See Larken's announcement below.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Dear Subscriber,

Overshadowed by the verdict in the persecution of Wesley Snipes was another verdict, this one in Hawaii. The tax evasion trial of Lucky Bennett, defended by Larry Becraft, ended with a hung jury. I don't know anything else about Mr. Bennett, or about the case. I don't know if it had anything to do with the 861 evidence or not, and I don't know if the feds will try to retry him. But once again, the supposedly invincible IRS/DOJ bully failed to do the damage it tried to inflict. Poor them. It must be tough trying to illegally extort 100,000,000 people all at once.

Sincerely,


Larken Rose
http://www.larkenrose.com

[Famspear]

alohabunny wrote:

A criminal tax case was commenced in the Hawaii District Court in Honolulu Hawaii on January 8th, 2008 IRS v. Hamlet C. Bennett in Susan O Mollway's court, Leslie E. Osborne Jr. prosecutor, the trial lasted until January 29th and then there was no news as to the verdict or any other press coverage.....what could have happened to a jury trial that lasted 2 weeks and then nothing was decided or if it was, why was there no press release as to the outcome? There was nothing in the news papers about this trial and nothing regarding the verdict in the entire news media nationwide, how could that be???

(bolding added)

Dear alohabunny: As a former broadcast news reporter, I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of Federal and state court cases, both civil and criminal, are never reported in either the newspaper or on radio or television -- for good reason. There would be simply no way to do that, considering the thousands and thousands of cases that are on-going every week day. You haven't indicated why you apparently think that this particular criminal tax case in Honolulu would warrant even local news coverage of any kind.

Especially in radio & television broacasting, a criminal case would have to be considered "remarkable" by a news director to warrant coverage. One old saying for TV news is: "If it bleeds, it leads." I cannot speak for Honolulu, but in a major market there are so many violent crimes each and every day that not even all killings would necessarily receive full news coverage. Rightly or wrongly, a mere court case involving a non-violent tax crime would normally be waaayyyy down on the list of priorities for a news director. Even major criminal tax cases generally receive scant local or national news media coverage. The Wesley Snipes case was an exception -- because Mr. Snipes is a public figure.

(By the way, I did radio news, not TV news, but the situation would be similar in either case.)

[alohabunny]

Aloha Wserra,

Thank you for checking Pacer...I was very curious about this case being tried in Honolulu, and your information was very helpful. I have since heard that there was a hung jury and now there will be a re-trial and wondered how many "do-overs" are allowed and where is double jeoprady if anywhere...also what happens when there is a re-trial, is there a complete do-over or just on the points that hung the jury?

The defense attorney Mr. Becraft is from "out of town" is he a high profile attorney, does he win most of his tax cases? What about Mr. Osborne the prosecutor?


Aloha Demosthenes,

Also thank you for this information, as stated there was nothing in the local press, but according to this announcement it seems like it is getting coverage somewhere else....do you think that a hung jury will push the prosecutor harder in the next trial, or do you think it will be more likely that they will offer a plea bargin and try to end the whole thing, or even maybe drop the charges? I know I am asking you to guess, but possibly you know a pattern in these cases.

Mahalo for providing some insight Famspear and Judge Roy Bean, I knew this was the place to get some answers to the mystery of the IRS v. Bennett.

[wserra]

how many "do-overs" are allowed and where is double jeoprady if anywhere

As many as there are hung juries, although the govt may decide not to try again. Double jeopardy doesn't enter the picture because a hung jury isn't a determination on the merits - it's not a determination at all.

...also what happens when there is a re-trial, is there a complete do-over or just on the points that hung the jury?

The former - start from scratch. No one would ever try to find out formally (the parties might, informally) what the jury couldn't decide.

The defense attorney Mr. Becraft is from "out of town" is he a high profile attorney, does he win most of his tax cases? What about Mr. Osborne the prosecutor?

Becraft has had a few high-profile wins. He has also had high-profile losses. I am sure that he doesn't win most of his cases, if by "win" you mean get acquittals.

do you think that a hung jury will push the prosecutor harder in the next trial, or do you think it will be more likely that they will offer a plea bargin and try to end the whole thing, or even maybe drop the charges?

For Demo: there is no way for an outsider to know. Demo is not exactly an "outsider", so perhaps she can provide some info.

I knew this was the place to get some answers to the mystery of the IRS v. Bennett.

You kiddin'? This is the place to get answers about anything. Just ask us.

[LPC]

The defense attorney Mr. Becraft is from "out of town" is he a high profile attorney, does he win most of his tax cases?

See http://tpgurus.wikidot.com/larry-becraft for some background on Becraft.

[Demosthenes]

I have no inside or outside information on this case. I'd never heard of it until the tp crowd started circulating Becraft's press release about the hung jury.

Ironically, the harder Becraft pushes this case into the limelight, the more likely the DOJ will come down hard on the defendant.

[Joey Smith]

And remember, even in the occasional "losses" for the DOJ, the defendant still has to pay back all the taxes, plus interest and huge penalties and fines -- plus their attorney fees.

So even if they "win" they are bigtime losers.

[Nikki]

I have no inside or outside information on this case. I'd never heard of it until the tp crowd started circulating Becraft's press release about the hung jury.

Ironically, the harder Becraft pushes this case into the limelight, the more likely the DOJ will come down hard on the defendant.

Plus, this gives you an excuse to go to Hawaii as research for the next book

[jg]

Plus, this gives you an excuse to go to Hawaii as research for the next book

Did you not mean to say the next alleged book?

[alohabunny]

Aloha, Wow you guys are awesome.....I'm so glad to know you can give me answers to anything. Mahalo for you kokua.

The word from the coconut wireless is that there will be another trial. The defense thinks there is a possible "deal" to be offered. But Mr. Bennett believes in his case and as of now is not interested in any thing but acquittal. I would suppose that Mr. Becraft can plan on another trip to Hawaii and another series of fees, not much to lose and everything to gain.

I do not know how much risk there is to refusing an offer from the IRS, what the "odds" are, what the penalties might be, or even if there will be such an offer, etc. Mr. Royal Lemar Hardy was Mr. Bennett's "adviser" previous to this and he as you might remember, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison....if Mr. Bennett were your client/friend, what would be your best advice?

[Judge Roy Bean]

My advice would be to get competent counsel.

[Demosthenes]

In case I forgot to say it, welcome to Quatloos, Aloha.

[LPC]

In case I forgot to say it, welcome to Quatloos, Aloha.

Or, as they say in the islands: Aloha, Aloha.

[alohabunny]

So much aloha....aloha aloha...

Shaka to you bra, da luau been pane'e, cause choke rain, but bring da kine Primo, da kine and some grins for one garage party.

McKinley no ka oi....Captain.

[Truthstalker]

Another Hawaiian rabbit, what a coincidence.

[Judge Roy Bean]

I was there when the first McDonalds opened on the big island.

We drove all the way from Hilo to the Kona coast for a Big Mac fix.

Mmmmmm.