Opinion
24155-18
12-02-2021
Lawrence Leroy Henry Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER
David Gustafson, Judge
This case is set for trial during the Court's Washington, D.C., trial session beginning December 13, 2021. The parties have jointly filed four stipulations (Docs. 21, 26, 39, 41), which include joint exhibits numbered through 125-J. In compliance with our standing pretrial order (Doc. 36, para. 6(B)), the Commissioner has also unilaterally submitted "Proposed Trial Exhibits" (Doc. 51), which he numbered beginning with 1000-R, in compliance with the instructions in "Documentary Evidence for Remote Proceedings" (Aug. 6, 2020), which is discussed below. Apparently unaware of these instructions, petitioner Lawrence Leroy Henry has submitted proposed trial exhibits (Docs. 59-90, 92-191, 193-217, 265-292, 322-400) separately rather than in multi-exhibit "Parts", without exhibit numbers, without sequential page numbering, and sometimes misfiled as if submitted by both parties (rather than by Mr. Henry alone). The relevant instructions are accessible at-- https://ustaxcourt.gov/resources/covid/documentary_evidence.pdf --and those instructions include the following:
Proposed Trial Exhibits
Parties must mark disputed documents or materials that are expected to be presented at trial (except impeachment documents or materials) with an exhibit number. These disputed documents must be filed, preferably electronically, as Proposed Trial Exhibits. The Court may refuse to receive in evidence any document or material that is not filed as a Proposed Trial Exhibit no later than 14 days before the first day of the trial session.
Proposed Trial Exhibits should be sequentially numbered, and include a "P" for petitioner(s)' proposed exhibits and "R" for respondent's proposed exhibits. The parties can file these Proposed Trial Exhibits as one document or as separate documents. They should coordinate sequential numbering, if possible, following the last numbered joint exhibit (e.g., 24-J, 25-P, 26-P, 27-R, 28-R, etc.). Alternatively, if the parties cannot coordinate numbering, petitioner(s) should number Proposed Trial Exhibits sequentially starting with 500-P and respondent should number Proposed Trial Exhibits starting with 1, 000-R. . . .
Format and File Size
• Documents should be submitted in PDF format.
• Each document should have a file size no larger than 50 MB.
• If the document exceeds 500 pages, file multiple documents (i.e., Proposed Trial Exhibits Part I, Proposed Trial Exhibits Part II, etc.).
• Pages within each exhibit should include the exhibit number and should be uniquely numbered for the Court and parties to identify specific pages within documents easily.
To accomplish future compliance with those instructions, it is
ORDERED that hereafter Mr. Henry shall comply with those instructions as to any proposed trial exhibits that he submits. He shall
• make those future submissions as his own unilateral filings and not as ostensible joint filings by both parties;
• number and label any future exhibits beginning with exhibit number 500-P,
• submit future exhibits not individually but in multi-exhibit filings not exceeding 500 pages, with sequential page numbering.
In due course, the Court will discuss with the parties how Mr. Henry's previous submissions should be handled and cited.