United States v. John Alford Reeves and Jerry D. Reed

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

Defendants-appellants Reeves and Reed operated a bar in Lawton, Oklahoma, where they sold liquor by the drink. A jury found them guilty of violating 26 U.S.C. § 5691(a) by carrying on the business of a retail dealer in liquors without payment of the required federal tax. The single question on this appeal is whether, under the Marchetti-Grosso-Haynes-Leary line of cases, infra, the timely assertion of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is a complete defense to a prosecution under § 5691(a).

The pertinent federal statutes relating to alcoholic…