Where's the Liability Statute Defining the Offense?

LINCOLN - Gaylon "Whitey" Harrell of Latham, Illinois was acquitted by a 12 person jury of the 4 count criminal felony charges of willful failure to file an Illinois State Income Tax Form. One of the Juror's stated, "When the court refused, after our specific written request, to furnish us copies of the actual statutes that imposed the obligation on the defendant to file, it didn't take long for all of us to see that something was wrong with the State's case." Part of Harrell's evidence was a video taped 45 minute meeting with CID agent Robert Craner of the Illinois Dept. of Revenue. On the video, which was shown to the jury at the trial, Harrel specifically pointed out that he could find no section of the Illinois statutes that obligated him to file an Illinois income tax return.

He presented Craner with numerous documents which he identified as outlines of statutes and regulations and "administrative codes" which he said he searched to no avail, not finding any obligation that would apply to him. Craner accepted the documents. The tape showed that Craner promised Harrell at least five different times, to produce the statutes that made Harrell liable, which he never did. Craner testified that Harrel, at that meeting, had nothing to offer in his defense, as to why he didn't file a tax return, but the video tape brought Craner's credibility into serious question. Harrell testified in his own defense and verified his many efforts to obtain the law that made him liable for filing an income tax return, or which would explain how his activity was privileged. In an attempt to prove knowledge, the state elicited that Harrell had previously filed tax returns. Harrell's Attorney Barringer likened that to believing in Santa Claus when you were a child and then gaining knowledge of the fact that Santa Claus is a fantasy as you got older and wiser. Harrel, 62, had worked for the United States Post Office as a rural mail carrier and also received a pension from Caterpillar, from where he retired in 1990.

Harrel plans to keep up his efforts to expose, what he says, is the one of the largest frauds ever committed on the people of Illinois and the American people.