KNOXVILLE - An attorney representing a former Tennessee lawmaker found guilty of filing a false tax return says the jury's verdict is legally inconsistent.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that attorney Gregory Isaacs filed a motion Monday asking a judge to either judicially acquit former state Rep. Joe Armstrong or grant a new trial.
A jury found Armstrong guilty of filing a false tax return earlier this month in connection with the handling of income taxes on a windfall from a cigarette tax stamp deal he made. The jury acquitted him of willfully attempting to evade taxes, however.
Isaacs argues that since prosecutors didn't distinguish the crime of tax evasion from filing a false tax return, the judge should have tossed out the charge of filing a false tax return.