Tax attorney Roni Lynn Deutch pleaded not guilty Friday to contempt-of-court charges at her arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court.

Deutch was accused by the state attorney general's office in April of shredding documents and failing to pay fee refunds to clients in violation of an April court order and could be jailed if found guilty.

Deutch, known as the "Tax Lady," has since closed her national tax resolution law practice based in North Highlands, claimed she is millions of dollars in debt and resigned from the State Bar of California, which has filed its own allegations against her.

Her firm, once a $25 million-a-year operation, is now being overseen by a court-appointed receiver.

Deutch, looking tired, did not speak at the morning hearing.

Her counsel, Clyde M. Blackmon of Sacramento, entered the not-guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang.

Blackmon replaced former Deutch attorney James Banks, who left the case in May, saying he had not been paid.

Deutch and Blackmon both declined to comment.

Blackmon's name is on a number of high-profile cases locally. He has represented the city of Isleton, in its attempt to bring a massive medical marijuana facility to the town, and Harrison Jack, the Vietnam War veteran and Woodland man accused, then exonerated, of plotting the overthrow of communist Laos.

Outside the downtown courthouse, a small group of Deutch family members and supporters waved signs and shouted "Justice for Deutch."

"We are friends and family and wanted to show our love," said Pierre Butler of Sacramento, carrying a sign that read, "Roni saved me $3,500."

"There's a biased opinion" of Deutch, said Deutch's niece, J. Ross Parrelli, of Jersey City, N.J., who flew into Sacramento for the proceedings.

"It's astonishing. She's in a hard fight. She's fighting the IRS and the attorney general."

COURTS"We are friends and family and wanted to show our love."

PIERRE BUTLER, who was carrying a sign that read, "Roni saved me $3,500."

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