Now that Internet Kaos!!! has been legalized, I guess it's OK to post this. To paraphrase Lazarus Long "Avoid strong drink. It might make you shoot at tax collectors outside of New York State." Love those soft and squishy judges.
From the NY Post, Wednesday, June 12, 1996.
CONVICTION OF TAX MAN'S KILLER GETS TOSSED OUT By Gregg Birnbaum Post Correspondent ALBANY --- The state's top court yesterday threw out the murder conviction of a Republica Party activist who gunned down the first IRS agent to die in the line of duty. The court of Appeals overturned the 1983 conviction of James Bradley, who asked IRS collection agent Michael Dillon, "Mike are you prepared to meet your maker?" --- then fired an M-1 rifle at him twice. Bradley then knelt down to take Dillon's pulse and shot him a third time before driving to a friend's house to present him with the weapon as a "souvenir." Dillon 61, had gone to Bradley's house near Buffalo in September 1983 to collect the last $332 of a $2,000 lien imposed by the IRS. When Bradley wouldn't pay up right away, Dillon threatened to seize one of his cars. Bradley got his rifle, returned to the kitchen, where Dillon was sitting and started firing. In a unanimous unsigned ruling, the Court of Appeals said the trial judge undermined Bradley's insanity defense by improperly allowing the jury to also consider a first-degree manslaughter conviction. That's the charge on which Bradley was convicted. He was acquitted of second-degree murder. At his sentencing, Bradley predicted Dillon wouldn't be the last IRS agent to die at the hands of an irate taxpayer and said, "I was just helping President Bonzo get government off our backs," an apparent reference to then-President Reagan. The Erie County district attorney said he expected to resubmit the case to a grand jury. If Bradley is tried again, he will face a first-degree manslaughter charge or lesser, his lawyer said. Before the shooting, Bradley, 76, had long been known as a Republican campaign worker in the Buffalo area. He is now in the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome and is said to be ill. ###