Jury selection delays Schiff trial

David Kihara

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Jury selection in the tax fraud case of anti-tax advocate Irwin Schiff was stalled Monday after potential jurors who were waiting outside the courtroom said a man tried to talk to them about the case.

A potential juror told U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson that John Anthony Malan told prospective jurors outside an elevator on the sixth floor of the George Federal Building to "just remember to listen to the facts" and not to listen to opinions. At least seven more potential jurors also heard comments from Malan and were called into a private sidebar individually with the attorneys from both sides and Dawson.

The interruption came during jury selection in the criminal case against Schiff, a local author and businessman, and two other defendants, Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen.

All three were indicted in federal court in March of attempting to evade paying taxes, aiding and assisting in filing false tax returns and conspiring to defraud the government, among other charges.

The outspoken Schiff is defending himself while Neun and Cohen have attorneys.

Opening arguments in the trial were expected to begin this morning.

Malan was brought before the judge and initially denied speaking to the jurors.

"I'm a little bit confused as to what's going on," Malan said. "I didn't say nothing to the group -- I was speaking to someone else."

After Dawson further inquired as to whether Malan attempted to communicate with prospective jurors about the case and asked if he was attempting to influence the potential jurors, Malan replied, "I object to this entire proceeding."

Dawson, after calling for a hearing for Malan on Wednesday, ordered U.S. marshals to eject Malan from the federal courthouse.

Attorney Michael Cristalli, who is representing Schiff's former girlfriend Neun, denied that his client had anything to do with Malan. Attorney Chad Bowers, who is representing Cohen, also distanced his client from Malan.

Schiff said that while he knew Malan, he was not a close acquaintance with him and attempted to disassociate himself from him.

"This is not a buddy of mine or a friend of mine," Schiff said. "I had nothing to do with this."

The defendants are accused of filing false tax returns and preparing false returns on behalf of other clients of Freedom Books, which Schiff has owned and operated since 1995, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that the defendants and others filed almost 5,000 false tax returns from 2000 to 2002.

Cristalli said that Neun essentially believed that she was rejecting the tax law.

"We're not here to argue the legality of her beliefs -- we're going to prove that she holds the beliefs in good faith," Cristalli said.

Bowers is mounting a similar defense for Cohen, saying outside the courtroom that "the basis of the (government's) case is that our clients willfully violated the law. They didn't," he said.

Schiff said outside the courtroom that "there is no law that makes you liable for tax," that there is essentially no law that makes an individual responsible for paying income tax. He added that no court has jurisdiction over these matters.