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TAKE A TAX PROTESTER POSITION ON YOUR RETURN: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

May 05, 2004

<<UPDATE 5/4/05: FUTUREMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION>>

(Original Post of 5/5/2004 below.)

If you live in a state under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the legal answer may be "yes."

The court last week affirmed a lower court ruling that master percussionist Roy Wooten - known professionally as "Future Man" - is incompetent to assist in his own defense on tax evasion charges. A district court had ruled that Mr. Wooten "...be committed to the custody of the Attorney General of the United States for further evaluation and treatment." The committment order had been stayed pending the Sixth Circuit decision.

TAX PROTESTING = "PERSECUTORY DELUSIONAL DISORDER"?

The district court questioned Mr. Wooten's ability to assist in his own trial based on his arguments in pre-trial proceedings, as explained by the Circuit Court:

   After his indictment on charges related to tax
   evasion, Wooten was released on an
   unsecured bond. He subsequently appeared
   before the district court when ordered to do
   so, but his participation in the district court
   proceedings was defined by his insistence
   on responding to virtually every question
   with arcane, pseudo-legal jargon commonly
   associated with tax protestor literature. He
   also repeatedly proclaimed his beliefs that
   the federal government is bankrupt, the
   Department of the Navy runs the country
   under Admiralty Law and the Uniform
   Commercial Code, the Internal Revenue
   Service is really a foreign debt collector
   based in Puerto Rico and that Wooten, who
   lives in Nashville, is not actually a resident
   of the United States. Wooten also filed
   volumes of pleadings, many signed only
   with his thumb print, that the district court
   found virtually indecipherable. Faced with
   these abnormalities, the district court, 
   fearing that Wooten might not be competent
   to assist in his own defense, ordered a
   competency evaluation. 

These arguments are familiar to anyone who has wandered into the alternate reality of tax protester websites and usenet discussions. For example, the use of gold fringe around courtroom flags is cited in these places as proof that admiralty law is in effect.

CRAZY, OR JUST FOOLISH?

It is disturbing to see a legal argument, however foolish and bizarre, be considered a psychological disorder meriting committment and treatment; it smacks of Soviet psychiatry. We can only hope Mr. Wooten abandons his sad illusions about the nature of the tax law and avoids an enforced interruption in his career. He was in Des Moines as recently as last July, and we can say from personal observation that he is an amazing musician.

A Des Moines Register review of a 2002 concert by Mr. Wooten's band, the Flecktones, is here.

Future Man. Click on photo to see Flecktones website.

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