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Aug. 11, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NEW JUDGE, TRIAL AND INDICTMENT

Tax case defendant wins rare ruling

By JOAN WHITELY
REVIEW-JOURNAL

One federal court filing by Robert Kahre was photographed with its cash payment, lying on a counter in the federal courthouse in Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy of Alex Loglia



Robert Kahre and other defendants agreed to be paid in gold and silver coins such as these.
Photo courtesy of Alex Loglia



Robert Kahre appears with his lawyer, William Cohan, in a video interview about his tax case with Steve Murphy, an online journalist.
Photo by Jessica Ebelhar/Review-Journal

Robert Kahre -- a Las Vegas businessman charged with federal tax crimes that could put him in prison for the rest of his life -- gets a new judge for his second go-round, thanks to a maneuver rarely successful for criminal defendants in federal court.

The defense recently won a writ of mandamus from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Defense lawyers argued that Judge Robert Jones was stepping on Kahre's right to legal representation when the judge decided Kahre could not hire Lisa Rasmussen as an additional attorney for his next trial.

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    • The appeals court also ordered the case reassigned and erased a contempt finding that Jones had made during the first trial against Kahre's first lawyer, William Cohan, who continues to represent him.

    Prosecutors argued before the appeals court, unsuccessfully, that Rasmussen had a conflict of interest representing Kahre because in the earlier trial she had represented Joel Axberg, a co-defendant who was acquitted.

    A year ago, prosecutors tried Kahre and eight other defendants on 161 counts of breaking tax laws but came away with zero convictions.

    The next trial is not a retrial of those charges but a new trial on a "new" indictment -- the latest in a series of seven indictments -- that came out in November.

    Kahre is one of five defendants in the next trial.

    The court here has not yet assigned a new judge because the appeals court just granted the writ on Friday. Judges Kent Dawson, Lloyd George and James Mahan already have recused themselves from the case.

    Also facing trial are Kahre's wife, Danille Cline; Kahre's sister, Lori Kahre, who worked in his office; Alex Loglia, who did paralegal work for him; and Thomas Browne, a real estate agent and loan officer who helped with several purchases of property.

    The government thinks Kahre bought the properties in the name of relatives to hide his assets.

    Such writs are rare, particularly for the defense side, said Washington, D.C., attorney Christopher Landau.

    "They grant it very sparingly," he said. "There has to be a clear error, and the petitioner has to show that the injury is immediate and irreparable."

    Landau heads appellate litigation for Kirkland & Ellis, a nationally known law firm. Writs of mandamus are more common in state courts, he added.

    The Kahre case revolves around whether Kahre and his workers willfully evaded taxes by agreeing to be paid in gold and silver coins.

    The individuals then each determined they did not need to pay any taxes because adding up the face values of the coins received per year fell below the threshold for filing a tax return.

    Also, Kahre did not withhold taxes for the workers because he contends they are independent contractors.

    In the first trial, the court told the jury that taxpayers need to account for coin income by the fair-market value of the precious metal content.

    The defense acknowledged that Kahre and others might be forced to pay taxes owed but contended their mistakes were not intentional, nor criminal.

    The federal government is alleging Kahre undervalued gold and silver coins. But the government accepted such coins at face value -- issuing no change back -- when defendants have paid filing fees at federal court in Las Vegas using a mix of gold and silver coins plus paper dollars, according to several affidavits.

    The U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas wouldn't comment on the 9th Circuit's sending the Kahre case back to be heard by a new judge.

    Judge Jones also declined to comment on the reassignment. But in court on March 10, Jones had invited defendants to request his removal from the case with their request for a writ of mandamus.

    Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0268.



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    Rob wrote on August 22, 2008 09:57 PM: What i believe Mr. Kahre may need to learn is wether or not he is an "employer" paying "wages" to "employees". These are all legal terms defined in title 26. And they all have specific meanings. Not what most people think they mean. I live near the city that Mr. Kahre lives in. I think i will try to give him a call and talk with him about this issue. See below what i mean.
    TITLE 26 > Subtitle C > CHAPTER 24 > § 3401. Definitions
    (a) Wages
    For purposes of this chapter, the term “wages” means all remuneration (other than fees paid to a public official) for services performed by an employee for his employer,.....
    (c) Employee
    For purposes of this chapter, the term “employee” includes an officer, employee, or elected official of the United States, a State, or any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing. The term “employee” also includes an officer of a corporation.
    (d) Employer
    For purposes of this chapter, the term “employer” means the person for whom an individual performs or performed any service, of whatever nature, as the employee of such person, except that—


    Every Country prints Fiat Money! wrote on August 11, 2008 05:10 PM: The below comments suggest that every country with "fiat" currency is a fraud.

    Every modern country has "fiat" currency and a central bank!

    Everu modern country collects taxes too.

    Is anyone suggesting that we go back to gold and silver, which seems impractical in these electonic days?


    wethepeople wrote on August 11, 2008 03:59 PM:
    a perfect example of fiat currency is the station casinos boarding pass phony plastic money.

    when people are too dumb to go into the casino and get their money.thinking the money is on a plastic credit card this leaves the real money laying in the account of station casinos and gives the stations huge buying power. to buy up vegas at pennies on the dollar.

    wake up las vegas. no money is funneling back into the vegas economy with fiat currency boarding passes


    HELENWEILS wrote on August 11, 2008 08:00 AM: Wonderful!!!! The Federal Reserve prints
    worthless paper and cons the citizens into thinking it has a value. It is based on the "faith" of the American people. There
    are many, many people who want to see this
    reversed. The IRS is nothing but a collection agency for the Federal Reserve.
    We had NO income tax before the Fiat money
    and the Federal Reserve Act. Our politicians whored out our money to the
    banksters who continue to manipulate our money today. I.E. look at the real estate mess the banksters have created.


    michael wrote on August 11, 2008 06:53 AM: they should be released all of them,.
    art. 1 section 8 and 10 US constitution,.,.,.
    only gold and silver coins are legal money,.
    a 20 $ gold piece is just that,. 20 dollars,.
    a paper denominated un-backed
    note, federal reserve note,.is not a legal dollar,.
    the monetary policy of the federal reserve is to blame,.
    and the federal reserve is not part of our govt,.
    it is a private owned banking cartel,.