A divided (2-1) Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed the tax evasion conviction of Garth Kloehn on the ground that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to continue his trial for two days to allow him to see his dying son. United States v. Kloehn, No. 06-50456 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2010). Judge Trott dissented, arguing that the ditrict court’s error was harmless: Mr. Kloehn was charged “with a transparent scam which anyone with an IQ over room temperature would have seen as illegal.”
