{"id":701,"date":"2012-04-19T14:44:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-19T18:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.miblaw.com\/lawschool\/?p=701"},"modified":"2012-05-05T15:35:50","modified_gmt":"2012-05-05T19:35:50","slug":"cheek-v-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.miblaw.com\/lawschool\/cheek-v-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Case Name: <\/strong>Cheek v. United States
\nCitation: <\/strong>498 U.S. 192 (1991)<\/p>\n

Facts: <\/strong>Cheek was convicted of willfully<\/em> failing to file a federal income tax return for a number of years. <\/em>His defense was that he sincerely believed that under the tax laws he owed no taxes and that the tax laws were unconstitutional. Cheek received this information from seminars and his own study. The jury could not decide because they were divided on whether Cheek honestly and reasonably believed that he was not required to pay income tax. The trial judge responded that \u201can honest but unreasonable belief is not a defense and does not negate willfulness\u201d and that the information Cheek received was \u201cnot objectively reasonable.\u201d The jury then convicted Cheek.<\/p>\n

Defendant\u2019s argument: <\/strong>The trial judge erred in instructing the jury that only an \u201cobjectively reasonable\u201d misunderstanding of the law negates the statutory willfulness requirement.<\/p>\n

State\u2019s argument: <\/strong>Mistake about the law<\/a> is not a defense to criminal liability.<\/p>\n

Holding: <\/strong>It was not error for the judge to instruct the jury not to consider Cheek\u2019s claims that the tax laws were unconstitutional; however, it was error for the court to instruct the jury that Cheek\u2019s beliefs should not be considered by the jury in determining whether Cheek acted willfully.<\/p>\n

Reasoning: <\/strong>Because of the complexity of the tax laws, the Court has interpreted the term \u201cwillfully\u201d as carving out an exception to the traditional rule and requires specific intent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Case Name: Cheek v. United States Citation: 498 U.S. 192 (1991) Facts: Cheek was convicted of willfully failing to file a federal income tax return for a number of years. His defense was that he sincerely believed that under the tax laws he owed no taxes and that the tax laws were unconstitutional. Cheek received … <\/p>\n

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