Tenured Law Prof (Former Tax Lawyer) Convicted of Failing to File Tax Returns

National Law Journal, Law professor, a Former Tax Attorney, Convicted for Failing to File Tax Returns:

A Minnesota jury has found a Hamline University School of Law professor guilty of four misdemeanor counts of failing to file state tax returns.

Prosecutors alleged in their criminal complaint that Robin Kimberly Magee told investigators she didn't understand tax law — a claim reiterated during court testimony, according to a report from The St. Paul Pioneer Press. However, Magee's Hamline biography says that she practiced both tax law and criminal before teaching at the law school. ...

The verdict was something of a victory for Magee, however. A number of more serious felony charges of failing to file returns and pay taxes were dismissed shortly before the trial due to insufficient evidence. The counts upon which she was convicted are considered gross misdemeanors. Magee told reporters outside the courthouse that she felt vindicated. Sentencing was scheduled for April 1.

A Minnesota Department of Revenue investigator told the jury that Magee failed to file state tax returns from 1991 and 2003, so the state filed "commissioner-filed returns" in those years. However, the state did not file those returns between 2004 and 2007 — the years for which Magee was found guilty of not filing returns. Magee still had taxes automatically withdrawn from her earnings during those years. Magee's attorney told the jury that she had relied on the state to complete her tax filings.

(Hat Tip: Francine Lipman.)

Update: Jim Maule, Why Teaching Isn’t Just a Matter of What One Knows or Understands