United States v. Stadtmauer

Richard Stadtmauer (defendant) was charged with filing fraudulent tax returns for limited partnerships owned by Charles Kushner. At trial, a partner from the outside accounting firm that prepared the returns testified as a lay witness that Stadtmauer knew about problems in the returns, and an IRS agent testified as an expert about the tax consequences of the transactions. After his conviction, Stadtmauer appealed, arguing both witnesses' opinions were improperly admitted — the accountant's as an unhelpful lay opinion, and the IRS agent's as an improper opinion on the ultimate issue of fraud.