Resolution of Court case

Peet Court Outcome 06082012

After a full morning in court, we return grateful for the outcome. I had been charged with a Gross Misdemeanor - an "intent to evade taxes" Early this morning I prepared talking points to review with my attorney. As follows:

• I've lived in Hennepin County for 16 years and over this time frame I have paid $ xx,xxx in property taxes. I documented the previous year's taxes for my attorney
• Last year alone I paid $ x,xxx. in state income taxes. I had documentation for this
• The amount of "evaded" taxes was less than $ 100.
• My other car - the Buick - has annual license tab fees of $ 251. Again I had documentation that I had paid that. The reasoning here is that if I intended to evade taxes, I would evade taxes on the much more expensive vehicle.
• My concluding point: I am not a tax evader. And that the failure to have current license tabs on my truck was a simple omission and there was no "intent to evade taxes"

My attorney met with the Plymouth attorney. The charges were reduced from a Gross misdemeanor to a Petty Misdemeanor (there are three grades of misdemeanor in Minnesota: Gross, Misdemeanor, and Petty Misdemeanor A Petty Misdemeanor is not considered a crime in Minnesota ... it is more like a traffic offense. I paid a $ 300 fine and $ 78 in court costs.