State v. Grimes

Ted Grimes appeals his three convictions for theft of 26 U.S.C. § 1031 exchange funds, asserting that (1) federal tax deferral law preempts state theft law, (2) there is insufficient evidence to support his convictions, (3) the “good faith claim of title” instruction contained erroneous and prejudicial language, (4) the instruction defining escrow accounts was reversible error because it obscured the distinction between escrow and § 1031 accounts, and (5) the court erred by refusing to give his proposed instruction on § 1031 accounts and in excluding evidence of repayment. Grimes also…