DOJ asks judge to hold Dave Champion in contempt

[Nikki]

The hearing is for Dave Chumpion to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court for ...

Assuming he shows up with his usual inane arguments and doesn't present an adequate case to warrant deliberation by the judge, he will receive an immediate decision.

The decision will be that he failed to show cause and he will be held in contempt IMMEDIATELY.

If the judge is a nice guy, he will give Chumpion x hours to remove the contempt by complying with the previous order. If not, well, Chumpion would be advised to bring a toothbrush with him.

If, on the other hand, Chumpion's arguments are adequate to warrant deliberation, the government could still move that Dave be detained as a probable flight risk.

[grixit]

So it looks as if September 2 is Dave's next date with destiny. Two possible outcomes: he doesn't show, in which case there really will be a bench warrant, or he shows up and is ordered to hand over the requested books and records. Which do you think it will be?

I think it will be the second. But there is actually a third possibility-- he shows up and is incarcerated for his prior refusals to produce books and records (since he was previously ordered to do so).

Now friends, there was only two possibilities...

What i'd like to know, in what capacity will he introduce his supposed witness, and what credentials will that person claim?

[webhick]

So it looks as if September 2 is Dave's next date with destiny. Two possible outcomes: he doesn't show, in which case there really will be a bench warrant, or he shows up and is ordered to hand over the requested books and records. Which do you think it will be?

I think it would be helpful to forward that email to someone involved with the case, since there is still a possibility that he will claim that he was not served and he plainly said that he was.

[LPC]

What i'd like to know, in what capacity will he introduce his supposed witness, and what credentials will that person claim?

From the context of what Champion wrote, it sounds like he actually appeared before the IRS when ordered to do so, and brought a witness. The fact that the government has moved to hold him in contempt means that he didn't bring his tax records with him.

So I would expect the witness is there to recount how Champion tried to argue with the IRS about the law, and the IRS wasn't willing to play that game.

And if Champion thinks the 9/2 hearing is going to be about the law, he is sadly mistaken. The judge decided what the law was when the judge entered an order enforcing the summons. If Champion comes in a tries to explain that the reason he didn't obey the court's order was because the judge was wrong about the law, Champion will be handing the government its proof of contempt.

So keep encouraging Champion to go into court to "kick ass" with his arguments about the law. It can only make things worse for him.

Turning to Champion's ideas about lack of service, he seems to be admitting that he knew the hearings were scheduled but didn't think he had received the right kind of notice. That is also a dangerous attitude. I was sitting in a courtroom once when a party tried to tell the judge that he didn't get proper notice of the hearing, and so wasn't prepared. The judge said well, you're here, so I'd like to see what we can get done. The man then said, but I didn't get proper notice, and the judge said yes, I heard you, but I'd like to proceed anyway. When the guy started to say something again about the lack of notice, the judge cut him and said he didn't want to hear about it anymore, and if he said anything about it again, he would find him in contempt and have him taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. (Admittedly, the judge might not have been in the best mood that day, because I had already seen another person taken from the courtroom in handcuffs, and was told that he had "backtalked" to the judge.)

[LPC]

So it looks as if September 2 is Dave's next date with destiny. Two possible outcomes: he doesn't show, in which case there really will be a bench warrant, or he shows up and is ordered to hand over the requested books and records. Which do you think it will be?

As others have pointed out, the second option isn't really right, because Champion has already been ordered to hand over the requested books and records.

Given that Champion has already failed to show up at a previously scheduled hearing, has a history of tax resistance and noncompliance, is likely to show up at the hearing without any excuse whatsoever but with arguments about why he shouldn't be required to turn over books and records, I don't think that he should make any dinner reservations for 9/2.

I'm going to start a poll.