Quote:

I don’t want to try to dissect this mind numbing affidavit and debate minutiae,...



I know, Bob believe me I know. We're musicians here, not lawyers. Unfortunately, if we're going to argue this then dissecting the minutia is exactly what we have to do. From your local city pet licensing laws to the US/USSR Start treaty to the latest health care legislation it's all minutia. We have to try to wade through it in order to figure out what's going on.

I didn't want to do this because I assumed anyone interested would read that affidavit in full and yes, connect the dots, because you can't just cherry pick one part of it or another.

Here's part 10:

10. The international community uses "International Tariff Code" system or ITC, also known as the "Harmonized Schedule" or "HS", to simplify international trade in commodities including plants and plant products. Most relevant to this case is HS Code 4407, "Wood sawn or chipped lenghwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or end jointed, or a thickness exceeding 6mm."

India prohibits the export of products classified under HS Code 4407 for all plant species harvested in India, without exception.

Exceeding 6mm. Without exception.

The investigator used several other numbered points to talk about his expertise and experience in this area. Maybe his statement "without exception" is wrong. We'll see.

Now look at your quote from number 19:

19. From a review of the paperwork accompanying the shipment, WI Theurer determined that the shipment was exported from India and contained twenty five (25) bundles of Indian ebony wood (diospyros ebenum) in the form of sawn logs, totaling one thousand two hundred and fifty (1,250) pieces, sawn to the dimensions of 510-530 x 75/70 x 10mm and 510-530 x 72/62 x 10mm...

Note the last dimension is 10mm. I'm no mathematician but I think that exceeds 6mm, no?

When you write out something that's going before a federal judge you have to lay it out precisely, point by point and build a logical case where one item number refers to other item numbers. It gets complicated because life is complicated. Sure, that means the judge or more accurately his law clerks are going to read it word for word, probably make notes and analyze it then present their conclusions to the judge. I've assisted a couple of attorneys with these kinds of legal briefs several times. In my case these were briefs for Federal Tax Court because the CPA firm I work for gets involved with that but the rules are the same.

Absolutely I agree this thing looks stupid. 6mm or 10mm?? You kidding me? They're calling something that size a log?? It's very easy to poo poo this talk about the definition of sawn logs and all that but that's the way the law is written and that's the language we have to use.

Gibson's been importing wood for how long now? All under the Lacey Act. Sure it's minutia but it's also Gibsons business to know all that minutia. Believe me they know the difference between 6mm and 10mm.

Number 20 goes into the final destination of the shipment. Quote:

The shipment was marked for direct transport in interstate commerce to Nashville, TN following United States Customs clearance. The actual final consignee in Nashville, TN is not identified. Natalie SWANGO, General Manager of LUTHIER MERCANTILE, identified the actual ultimate consignee as GIBSON GUITAR, when questioned by WI Theurer.

Number 21 is the biggie:

21. The CBP Form 3461, U.S. Customs entry declaration, for the shipment listed LUTHIER MERCANTILE as the importer of record. LUTHIER MERCANTILE (of Windsor, CA) was declared to be the ultimate consignee, in contradiction to the Lacey Act declaration and other paperwork listing the final destination of the wood to be Nashville. In addition, the imported wood was falsely declared to CBP as "VENEER SHEET <= 6MM OTH, OT" and further listed the false HS code as "4408.90.0195", to match the false description. The false description and HS code beginning in "4408", fraudulently presents as a shipment that would be legal to export from India, and, in turn, would not be a violation of the Lacey Act.

This is what I was talking about when I said this case looks pretty simple to me. If Gibson is innocent all they have to do is quote the relevant portions of the law that says there are exceptions not 'no exceptions' like the investigator said, a 10mm size is ok even though they declared it to be 6mm veneer sheet and here's where they meet that exception and finally explain how they came to be in possession of the shipment when they were not listed on the CBP. Their attorneys could have a press conference about that and clear this up right now but given the evidence as described in the affidavit it doesn't look to me like they can do that can they?

Bob

Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.