Tax-fraud conviction voided because judge didn't stop trial to let defendant go to son's deathbed

[alp227]

Source: Los Angeles Times

A federal judge's refusal to halt a businessman's tax-fraud trial so he could be at his son's deathbed was cause to overturn the businessman's conviction, an appeals court has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer also prejudiced the case against Garth Kloehn by failing to inform the jury that he was absent for the final day of trial because his son had died, the appeals panel said. Fischer told the jury that Kloehn "has a right not to be here," possibly leaving jurors with the impression he was showing a lack of respect for the court, the judges said.

Kloehn was the sole defense witness in his 2005 trial in downtown Los Angeles on charges of failing to report $1.2 million in income. He left the courtroom after testifying to catch a flight to Las Vegas to see his cancer-stricken son, leaving no one to rebut the prosecution's final testimony. Kloehn arrived at the Las Vegas hospital one hour before 45-year-old Kevin Kloehn died.

In a 2-1 ruling, judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that there were "no mechanical tests for deciding when a denial of a continuance is so arbitrary as to violate due process" but that Fischer's action was "arbitrary and unreasonable."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deathbed-judge-20100903,0,4688684.story

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(Fischer=appointee of GW Bush)

[Hubert Flottz]

1. "(Fischer=appointee of GW Bush)"

Heckuva Job W...