United States v. Accardo
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
298 F.2d 133 (1962)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Anthony Accardo (defendant) was charged with tax fraud related to his income taxes. From 1956 to 1958, Accardo reported income from beer sales and took business deductions based on the use of a car for such sales. The prosecution (plaintiff) alleged that this source of income and related business deductions were fabricated and that the income actually came from illegal gambling. At trial, the prosecution admitted, over Accardo’s objection, Accardo’s tax returns for 1940 to 1955. Through testimony, the prosecution demonstrated that Accardo had illegal-gambling income over that time of over $1 million. The trial court permitted the introduction of this evidence to show Accardo’s motive in making the switch in 1956 from reporting gambling income to reporting legal, albeit allegedly fabricated income. To prove the crime charged, the prosecution had to show that Accardo willfully took tax deductions for business expenses to which he was not entitled. The motive for this willfulness, however, was not an element of the charge. The jury returned a verdict convicting Accardo. Accardo appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kiley, J.)
Dissent (Schnackenberg, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
