Opinion
9506-21
02-06-2023
DANIEL L. VICKERS, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Ronald L. Buch, Judge.
This case is calendared for trial at the Court's March 13, 2023, Detroit, Michigan trial session. On January 26, 2023, the Commissioner filed a Motion to Continue this case because Mr. Vickers is currently incarcerated. According to the Commissioner, no one has been properly authorized to represent Mr. Vickers and the Commissioner has been unable to reach Mr. Vickers directly.
The petition was originally filed in this case on March 22, 2021 (postmarked on March 15, 2021). The petition had several documents appended to it, including an incomplete copy of a notice of deficiency, a power of attorney identifying Wendy Alanis as Mr. Vicker's attorney-in-fact, and verification of incarceration. On July 19, 2021, the Court received an amended petition using the Court's petition form. The signature section of the petition included a signature for Wenday Alanis on the line labeled "SIGNATURE OF ADDITIONAL PETITIONER (e.g., SPOUSE)."
Because the Court does not have a complete copy of the notice of deficiency, it is unclear whether Ms. Alanis should be treated as a party to this case. (We note that documents attached to the petition and amended petition show that Mr. Vickers and Ms. Alanis previously resided at the same address along with their son, among others. We also note that the underlying issue in this case appears to be whether Mr. Vickers's son resided with him.) The original petition and the amended petition include various phone numbers, but it is unclear whether any of them are for Mr. Vickers or perhaps for Ms. Alanis. The Court tried those phone numbers but was unable to reach either of them. Further, although it is clear that Mr. Vickers is incarcerated, his address of record in this case is on Olivet Street in Detroit and not the address of the correctional facility in which he currently resides.
If Mr. Vickers wants to update his address with the Court, he may respond to this order with an updated address, otherwise, future correspondence will be sent to the Olivet Street address. Alternatively, he may request electronic filing and service in his case (see below). In the meantime, we need to resolve who should be treated as a party to this case. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the Commissioner, by February 17, 2023, shall file a response to the order attaching a complete copy of the notice of deficiency underlying this case. It is further
ORDERED that in addition to regular service, the Clerk shall serve a copy of this order on Mr. Vickers to
Central Michigan Correctional Facility
Attn: Daniel L. Vickers
MDOC #522929SID #2343602L
320 Hubbard
St. Louis, MI 48880
The Court encourages all litigants to register for electronic access (eAccess) so that you may electronically file and view documents in your Tax Court case. You currently receive paper service from the Court; you are encouraged to register for eAccess by emailing dawson.support@ustaxcourt.gov.