There is a break in the trial with no hearing today. I'm sure all of the parties can use the rest. Court will resume on Monday September 19th.

Folks,

I received a message from Cindy this morning and I would like to share some of what she conveyed.

The jury pool was very large and very serious. It is hard to tell what they might be thinking from observing them, but they did not look to be very friendly. Still, I wanted to keep them all. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a defendant could have 85 people on the jury? I would love that. Now we have twelve and evidently today we will be off and running. The first witness will be a former volunteer and part-time worker and student of Freedom Books, Toni Mitchell. The government is granting her immunity for her testimony. That is good, and, we look forward to her testimony.

They should finish opening statements today. We'll endeavor to bring you some comments on those.

The trial of Irwin Schiff, Cindy Neun, and Larry Cohen starts today.

I recieved a heartfelt message from Cindy Neun who points out that

...the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA will attempt to convince the jury that we should serve life sentences for reading the law out loud word for word so that the American Public can understand the rights and securities Congress put there to defend against unauthorized abuses of executive branch agency usurpation of powers.

Cindy went on to say:

The Plaintiff, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA filed a Motion in limine to keep us from speaking about the law in the criminal trial. Of course, we objected, and the Court will probably rule on that first when we arrive tomorrow. The judge clearly hates us or clearly hates what he must do in this case. For whatever reason, we have seen a very hostile judge.

The Supreme Court has sought to limit the judicial power to extend criminal statutes by interpretation, a long-standing principle articulated in 1820 by Chief Justice John Marshall for a unanimous Court:

"The rule that penal laws are to be construed strictly, is perhaps not much less old than construction itself …. It is the legislature, not the court, which is to define a crime, and ordain its punishment …. It would be dangerous, indeed, to carry the principle, that a case which is within the reason or mischief of a statute is within its provisions, so far as to punish a crime not enumerated in the statute, because it is of equal atrocity, or of kindred character, with those which are enumerated. UNITED STATES v. WILTBERGER, 18 U.S. 76, 93-94, 5 Wheat. 35, 43-44 (1820).

Late on Friday afternoon, Judge Dawson denied all pre-trial jurisdictional Motions, some of them of which were filed 17 months ago. He denied Irwin’s Motion to Suppress the seized documents. Knowing this is the way that the trial will be handled, it is difficult not to feel some anxiety over what is to come.

Here is the trial Location and Scedule:
The Criminal Trial: CASE NO. CR-S-04-0119 – KJD(LRL)
Mondays through Thursdays 9:30 a.m. Until 4:30 p.m.
With a lunch break from 12 until 1:30.

Location: Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse
333 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101

Kent J. Dawson District Court Judge Presiding
6th Floor


The United States Trial Attorneys are:

Daniel R. SCHIESS, JEFFREY NEIMAN, in care of UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DANIEL BOGDEN’S OFFICE at 333 Las Vegas Boulevard, South, Suite 5000, in Las Vegas, Nevada, [89101]


Jeffrey A. Neiman, Trial Attorney • United States Department of Justice • Tax Division
601 D Street, NW Room 7922 • Washington, D.C. 20004 •
202-305-1145 • 202-514-0961 (FAX)

For The Defense:

CHAD BOWERS, Esq.
Counsel for Defendant Cohen
3202 W. Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, Nevada 89102

Michael v. Cristalli, Esq.
Counsel for Defendant [the said] CYNTHIA NEUN
Cristalli & Saggese Ltd.
732 South Sixth Street
Suite 100
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
http://www.cristalli-saggese.com/
http://www.artaftermidnight.com/csmith/index.html

IRWIN A. Schiff
Defendant, pro per
444 East Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, Nevada 89104
http://www.paynoincometax.com/

People across our nation should pay attention to the conduct of our system in this trial. Whether you are for or against these defendants, we should all agree that these people are entitled to due process. Every defendant in this nation should be afforded every opportunity to present their case. We shall see how our government conducts itself. Let's pray for a balanced process.