Archive for January, 2008
« Previous EntriesIs Snipes a flight risk?
Thursday, January 31st, 2008The surety company backing Snipes’ bail bond has requested that the judge either put Snipes in custody or require a new bond if and when the jury finds him guilty.
“In the Surety’s view, defendant Snipes’ waiver of defenses indicates more than a lack of resolve. It can easily be inferred that the defendant has no [...]
Snipes’ December 2006 letter to the government
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Months after he was criminally indicted, Snipes sent a lengthy, and at times nasty, letter to the IRS and the federal prosecutor assigned to his case.
The entire letter – minus the 600 pages of attachments, of course – can be read here.
Sad, and ugly stuff.
The jury has now ended two full days of deliberation, and [...]
It’s all up to the jury now
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008What a day we had on Tuesday.
Court convened at 9:30 AM to give locals a little extra time to hit the polls, and the judge addressed a last minute kooky filing submitted by Eddie Kahn. The nonsense motion was , of course, denied and closing arguments began.
The prosecution team went first, and they nailed their closing [...]
The defense rests
Monday, January 28th, 2008No witnesses, no celebrities, no testimony, no evidence. Just a big, high-risk poker bluff.
By resting their case immediately, the defendants’ unspoken statement to the jury is that the government did such a weak job presenting its case that there’s no point in rebutting it - since the burden of proof is on the government.
“We could have called a bunch of Hollywood stars. [...]
A glimpse into the mad, mad world of tax deniers
Sunday, January 27th, 2008“Some people believe with great fervor preposterous things that just happen to coincide with their self-interest.” Coleman v. Commissioner, 791 F.2d 68, 69 (7th Cir. 1986).
A whirlwind of goofy sounding theories has plagued the Wesley Snipes criminal trial for the past couple of weeks, appearing in both the evidence being admitted, and among the tax denier [...]
What exactly is a conspiracy?
Sunday, January 27th, 2008Snipes, Kahn, and Rosile were all indicted on one count of conspiring to defraud the US Government.
From in or about 1999 through the date of this indictment, in Lake and Orange Counties, in the Middle District of Florida, and elsewhere,
WESLEY TRENT SNIPES,
EDDIE RAY KAHN,
and
DOUGLAS P. ROSILE,
The defendants herein, did knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully combine, conspire, [...]
Has Snipes been singled out?
Saturday, January 26th, 2008It’s an interesting group of people sitting in the audience during the trial. Reporters, people who didn’t make it on the jury but are curious about the case, one juror’s spouse, supporters and family members for the defendants, tax protesters, government employees, and so on. For the most part, it’s a very polite and sociable [...]
Day 9: January 25 – No two-bit actors here…
Saturday, January 26th, 2008Today was all about money. A whole lot of money. Buckets of it. Take all-of-the-money-made-by-all-16-jurors-and-multiply-by-10 kind of money.
Government Witness: Steward Stich has been an IRS Revenue Agent for 36 ½ years and his role in the trial was to present the summary of his research into how much Snipes earned in gross income from 1999 [...]
Day 8: January 24 – You have the right to remain silent. Use it.
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Threatening prosecutors is a really bad idea.
Ranting and raving (and admitting to at least one felony count) in writing to a federal prosecutor while threatening the US government is just not cool, especially after you’ve already been indicted and are awaiting your criminal trial.
At least Thursday morning wasn’t boring in the courtroom.
But first…
Government Witness: Michael [...]
Day 7: January 23: “Dear Mr. Kahn…”
Thursday, January 24th, 2008The prosecution continued questioning Special Agent Lalli for half of the day and the poor Jury was subjected to IRS form letters, Powers of Attorney forms, billing statements showing Snipes paying Kahn for his services, and hundreds of pages of incomprehensible tax protester forms and documents.
One interesting document showed 232 Kahn clients trying to obtain [...]
Day 6 – January 22: The Battle of Addresses Continues
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Outside the federal courthouse, it’s a media circus. Inside the courtroom, it’s death by a thousand paper cuts. It’s an especially painful torture, unfortunately, since the courtroom has been experiencing air conditioning problems with resulting temps in the 50s.
Government Witness: Craig Alexander, Senior VP of business and legal affairs at New Line Cinema in Los [...]
Day 5: More prosecution witnesses
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Witness Carmen Baker: Ms. Baker worked for Starr & Associates as an administrative person handling accounts payable. She left Starr to work directly for Mr. Snipes’ Amen Ra Films Inc. Snipes doubled her salary when she came to work for him. Ms. Baker testified that Snipes’ federal income tax bill was going to exceed $2 [...]
Day 4: The prosecution witnesses continue
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Witness Crowley (Continued): The papers filed by Snipes over the years were fairly typical tax denier fare. Snipes tried to demand that certain forms, statements, and in one case, even a book, be added to his official IRS file. He tried to file a 42 page letter instead of a Form 1040, even though none [...]
Day 3: Opening Statements and the first three prosecution witnesses
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008The prosecution offered a concise summary of what they planned on proving in the trial. They walked through a timeline of events and outlined Snipes’ gross income from 1993 to 2004.
The Snipes defense team countered with a four-part defense strategy outlined in detail here.
Mr. Rosile’s lawyer pointed out that the jury would see a “huge [...]
Recap of the first week in the Wesley Snipes case
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Days 1 and 2: Jury selection
During a deadly dull two day process, the judge and attorneys narrowed down an all white jury pool to a jury of seven women, five men, and four alternates, all women. The average juror is roughly 50+ years old and many are retired. Most are not Florida natives. Most, if [...]
Tax denier “docu-drama” about the Snipes trial
Sunday, January 20th, 2008While the person or group who produced this fictional movie is unknown, I originally found it on Youtube.com several months ago posted by a tax denier group called the American Patriot Friends Network (APFN). It was removed by the YouTube within a short time period, but I found the movie again recently on the APFN [...]
Snipes’ Defense: He trusted bad advisors
Sunday, January 20th, 2008Throughout the trial so far, the defense counsel in the Snipes criminal trial have stressed repeatedly both in the courtroom and in the press that Snipes is the victim of unscrupulous advisors. Who were these advisors and will the jury find that Snipes’ continued faith in them is believable?
Everybody makes mistakes in their lives; we [...]
Opening Statements and the first few witnesses
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008Today’s opening statements offered few surprises.
US Prosecutor Robert E. O’Neill walked the jury through the timeline of events and Snipes’ income statements and asked the jury to rely on their common sense. The presentation was short and to the point.
Snipes’ lawyers outlined a four part defense:
They claim Snipes didn’t live in Florida between the years [...]
What is Snipes’ defense?
Monday, January 14th, 2008The clues provided by Snipes’ defense counsel have been consistent:
“He did what every other American is entitled to,” Bernhoft said. “He asked the IRS for information. Asking questions is not a crime, even if the IRS would like it to be.”
and
The 45-year-old action star, who faces a trial Monday on tax fraud and conspiracy charges, [...]
What is a “bill of exchange”?
Friday, January 11th, 2008According to court documents, on November 30, 2000, Wesley Snipes sent a $1,000,000 “bill of exchange” to the US Treasury along with an IRS payment coupon. He sent another $12,000,000 BOE on January 19, 2001, and a final $1,000,000 on September 10, 2002.
Simply put, a bill of exchange is a check, just like the ones [...]