DENVER The man who wrote Colorados Taxpayers Bill of Rights went on trial Friday for tax evasion.
Douglas Bruce faces four felony counts related to alleged tax evasion and filing false documents. He maintains his innocence and has said the evidence will show he did nothing wrong.
But prosecutors say the case involves more than simple tax evasion, claiming Bruce used a charity he founded to hide his income in order to finance anti-tax ballot initiatives.
Once you peel back the layers of the onion, this was a much more complicated scheme, First Assistant Attorney General Robert Shapiro said during opening arguments Friday in Denver District Court.
Bruce, a former prosecutor in Los Angeles, is acting as his own lawyer. He reserved his opening argument until he starts his defense sometime next week.
Bruce has sparred with Shapiro and Denver District Judge Anne Mansfield throughout pretrial proceedings. Mansfield had admonished Bruce for being late to court, and as the court took a break after the opening argument Friday, Bruce spoke to Mansfield.
I was half an hour early. I want credit, he said.
Good job, the judge answered.
For 20 years, Bruce has been a hero to the small government movement and a bogeyman to elected Democrats and Republicans alike. His TABOR amendment to the state constitution, passed in 1992, limits government revenues and requires voter approval for tax increases.
But Shapiro said he will prove that much of Bruces political activity, at least since 2005, has been funded through illegal means.
The prosecutor told jurors they will see evidence that Bruce deposited income from real estate deals and a $1.97 million check from a supporter into the charity he founded and controlled, Active Citizens Together.
Because ACT was a charity, it was tax exempt. But Shapiro said most of ACTs money went to what could arguably be called lobbying an activity that charities are allowed to do only in limited amounts.
ACT was the main funder of the ballot questions 60, 61 and 101 in 2010, which sought lower taxes and a ban on most government debt financing. Voters defeated the initiatives after a multi-million-dollar opposition campaign. Another judge later fined ACT, but Bruce dissolved the charity before the fine was paid.
Bruce also did not file tax returns for 2006 and 2007, when he earned a salary of about $60,000 as an El Paso County commissioner, Shapiro said.
The trial is expected to last through next week. A jury of seven women and five men from Denver is hearing the case.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.