If you’re going to file an appeal, you should stick around for it. A taxpayer was convicted of tax evasion for not filing returns reporting income from his log cabin home building business. The taxpayer filed an appeal, but then failed to report for prison as scheduled. Under the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine, a court is allowed to dismiss a defendant’s appeal if he or she flees while the appeal is still pending. (U.S. v. Birk (January 9, 2020) U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, Case No. 19-1422)
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