Snipes is in the hands of the jury

[Demosthenes]

Closing arguments are done. The jury instructions have been read.

The jury fled to the back room in relief at 4:30 pm to deliberate.

No Galileo, no Rosa Parks, just Pilgrims!

My favorite line from the defense: "The Liberty Bell may be cracked in Philadelphia, but it can still be heard in Ocala."

[Doktor Avalanche]

My favorite line from the defense: "The Liberty Bell may be cracked in Philadelphia, but it can still be heard in Ocala."

The Liberty Bell....the other object besides Wesley Snipes' head that's cracked.

Your ears must have been burning, Demo. We were just talking about you.

[Demosthenes]

I have *soooo* much to report...

[Doktor Avalanche]

I have *soooo* much to report...

Well, hell...lay it on us! We're dying over here for some Wesley updates.

I've been so bored I've taken to calling Tommy Cryer an idiot to his face and getting banned from his YouTube forum.

[webhick]

My favorite line from the defense: "The Liberty Bell may be cracked in Philadelphia, but it can still be heard in Ocala."

Wesley may have snapped in 1998, but his crackle and pop will be heard for years to come.

[LPC]

From the NY Times:

Jury to Start Deliberations in Wesley Snipes Tax Case

By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
Published: January 30, 2008

OCALA, Fla. — The most prominent tax prosecution in nearly two decades went to the jury Tuesday after defense lawyers argued that while a defendant, the actor Wesley Snipes, did in fact owe tens of millions of dollars in back taxes, interest and penalties, he had not committed a crime.

Defense lawyers used the words “kooky” “crazy” and “dead wrong” to describe the views of Mr. Snipes, 45, on taxes. But they insisted that he had not broken any laws and should be acquitted of fraud, conspiracy and six counts of failing to pay taxes on more than $58 million of income for the years 1999 through 2004.

Two defense lawyers, Robert E. Barnes and Robert G. Bernhoft, said the position that Mr. Snipes had adopted, and which has been invoked by thousands of others who deny the legitimacy of the tax laws, had no merit. But “no merit does not equal fraud,” said David Wilson, a lawyer for another defendant, Douglas Rosile, a disbarred accountant. Mr. Wilson repeated the point two dozen times in 30 minutes.

Mr. Barnes also argued that Mr. Snipes had not committed a crime because he had told the government his reasoning for not paying taxes. “There was full, open disclosure,” Mr. Barnes said, “no fraud, no deceit.”

While lawyers said Mr. Snipes should have to pay his taxes, interest and penalties, the government should have filed a civil suit against him and not a criminal case.

But Robert E. O’Neill, the United States attorney for central Florida, ridiculed the assertions in his rebuttal. Mr. Snipes simply wanted to escape paying his taxes, Mr. O’Neill said, and had sent hundreds of pages of “gibberish” to impede and delay the Internal Revenue Service.

Mr. Snipes sent the I.R.S. a 600-page document in which he called himself a “nontaxpayer” and asked why the I.R.S. would not help him and others “in not complying with laws they clearly are not subject to.”

The jury of seven women and five men will begin deliberations Wednesday.

The third defendant, Eddie Kahn, who ran a business promoting the tax position taken by Mr. Snipes, told Senior Judge William Terrell Hodges that the court has no authority over him. He added that he would rather sit in his cell than attend the trial. Mr. Snipes and Mr. Rosile are free on bail.

Mr. Snipes, who has appeared in more than 50 films since 1986, has earned at least $103 million since 1993, court papers show. He has built a worldwide following portraying intrepid law enforcement agents, vampire slayers and a basketball hustler in movies like “Murder at 1600,” the Blade trilogy of horror films and “White Men Can’t Jump.”

He quit paying taxes in 1998 and sought a $7 million refund for taxes he paid in 1997 and lesser amounts for three years before that, court papers show.

Mr. Barnes, the defense lawyer, said that Mr. Snipes owed so much that it would take him two decades of work to pay the amount. If convicted, Mr. Snipes faces up to 16 years in prison.

Mr. Snipes tried to get the trial moved to Manhattan, saying he could not get a fair trial because of a long history of Ku Klux Klan activity in central Florida, including a statue of a Klan leader a block from the courtroom.

Mr. Bernhoft argued Mr. Snipes should be acquitted because he does not live in Florida. But prosecutors presented the Florida driver’s license of Mr. Snipes and a sworn statement, filed to get a homestead property tax break, in which Mr. Snipes declared his house in nearby Windermere, Fla., was his permanent residence.

One prosecutor, Scotland Morris, asked why, if Mr. Snipes sincerely believed he did not have to pay income taxes, he sent the government three phony financial instruments to pay $14 million in taxes. And he asked why the signature statement on a tax document was altered to say it was signed under “no” penalty of perjury.

Mr. Barnes, the defense lawyer, said the “bills of exchange” were not intended as payment of taxes even though they were sent with a payment coupon. He noted the space on the coupons for writing the amount being paid was left blank.

The signature statement, or “jurat,” was altered, Mr. Barnes said, “because Mr. Snipes wasn’t sure about the advice he was given” by his co-defendants, Mr. Kahn and Mr. Rosile.

A crowd of fans gathered outside the courthouse and Mr. Snipes autographed envelopes, newspaper pages and photographs of people whom he posed with during the two-week trial.

[webhick]

Mr. Barnes, the defense lawyer, said the “bills of exchange” were not intended as payment of taxes even though they were sent with a payment coupon. He noted the space on the coupons for writing the amount being paid was left blank.

Remind me to include a bogus check with my next utility payment and to leave the enclosed coupon blank. That way, when they try to charge me a bad check fee, I'll just tell them that the check wasn't intended to pay the bill, since the enclosed coupon was blank.

[Investor]

The signature statement, or “jurat,” was altered, Mr. Barnes said, “because Mr. Snipes wasn’t sure about the advice he was given” by his co-defendants, Mr. Kahn and Mr. Rosile.

Isn't that exactly the point the Prosecution is trying to focus on here? I had to read that twice to make sure I saw the right party making the statement. I thought for sure this would be something the Prosecutor said, not the Defense.

[Demosthenes]

I've updated the blog while waiting for the jury verdict:

http://www.thesnipestrial.com

[Evil Squirrel Overlord]

Mr. Barnes also argued that Mr. Snipes had not committed a crime because he had told the government his reasoning for not paying taxes. “There was full, open disclosure,” Mr. Barnes said, “no fraud, no deceit.”

Because this is such a reasonable statement we should plug in other crimes:

Mr. Barnes also argued that the arsonist had not committed a crime because he had told the fire department his reasoning for burning down the building. “There was full, open disclosure,” Mr. Barnes said, “no fraud, no deceit.”

[webhick]

“You just don’t so what he did unless you’re a true believer. You just don’t put protesters in prison. It’s not a crime to ask questions.” Bernhoft

Of course its not a crime to ask questions. It's a crime to willfully not pay your taxes.

“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape … and you don’t ever question the IRS.”

Bullpucky. What do you think Superman's going to do if you tug on his cape? Beat you up? He can't do that - he's Superman. Plenty of people question the IRS and nothing happens to them. Of course, they have legitimate questions. Like, "Why haven't you applied my payment to my account?" or "Why did you correct my return?"

Now, if you continuously yank on Superman's cape for years and when he tells you to knock it off, you insist that he has no jurisdiction over you, that you're a sovereign citizen, that he hasn't cited the appropriate case law that would compel you to stop yanking his cape, and you hold up a plastic green crystal and tell him that you have a secret weapon, etc. - he might eventually lose his patience and ram his super foot up your mortal behind.

[Evil Squirrel Overlord]

Bullpucky. What do you think Superman's going to do if you tug on his cape? Beat you up? He can't do that - he's Superman.

Apparently you are not familiar with the rare and surpressed 1986 #1276 issue (as part of Nancy Reagan's anti-drug program) where Superman gets hooked on Kryptoamphetamines, joins a motorcycle gang and knocks over liquor stores to support his habit. In that issue a small child tugs on his cape and subsequently put in the hospital.

It took the Legion of Doom and all the Super Friends to subdue him and get him into the Metropolis rehab where he finds Jesus.

[Mr. Mephistopheles]

I have *soooo* much to report...

I've been so bored I've taken to calling Tommy Cryer an idiot to his face and getting banned from his YouTube forum.

Following your lead I schooled him on the 16th Amendment. For some reason he wasn't very receptive of my comments to his posts. He said I couldn't play anymore.

[LPC]

Some mistakes.

In lengthy filings to the IRS, the three defendants claimed they did not legally have to pay taxes, citing an obscure section of the tax code that establishes that foreign sources of income for U.S. citizens are taxable.

That's wrong, because section 861 (and Subchapter N generally) has nothing whatsoever do with whether "foreign sources of income" are "taxable."

Brown and his wife were taken peacefully, but only after agents tricked the couple into surrendering.

Brown never surrendered, but was taken into custody against his will.

[wserra]

For some reason he wasn't very receptive of my comments to his posts. He said I couldn't play anymore.

I wasn't aware that Mephistopheles ever played.

Welcome to Q, though. We never play either. Our chief weapon is surprise.

[BBFlatt]

It took the Legion of Doom and all the Super Friends to subdue him and get him into the Metropolis rehab where he finds Jesus.

What was Jesus in rehab for?

[Investor]

What was Jesus in rehab for?

He seems to have a persistent problem - everyone's running into him in either rehab or the joint. I hope someone has tried an intervention.

[webhick]

What was Jesus in rehab for?

He seems to have a persistent problem - everyone's running into him in either rehab or the joint. I hope someone has tried an intervention.

It's what happens when you put Elvis in a blender with Waldo (of "Where's Waldo" fame).

[LPC]

I've updated the blog while waiting for the jury verdict:

http://www.thesnipestrial.com

Some comments on the closing arguments as you described them:

1. The Barnes mantra that "disagreement is not deception, disagreement is not fraud" should have been fatal to Snipes, because "disagreement" implies willfulness. Ignorance and mistake both negate willfulness, but a conscious decision to disagree does not. As the Supreme Court stated in Cheek: "Of course, the more unreasonable the asserted beliefs or misunderstandings are, the more likely the jury will consider them to be nothing more than simple disagreement with known legal duties imposed by the tax laws, and will find that the Government has carried its burden of proving knowledge.”

It's a somewhat subtle point, and I suppose the prosecution either didn't see it or decided to ignore it.

2. Counting the number of credit card transactions inside and outside of Florida should be irrelevant to residence (and venue). If venue is like domicile, then it is simply the place to which you always intend to return. People who travel a lot on business, like Snipes, might go for weeks, months or even years without going "home." So the issue is primarily subjective, and Snipes didn't really produce any evidence at all that he ever considered anyplace but Florida his home. The evidence that he (a) owned a home in Florida, (b) spent time in Florida, and (c) declared numerous times, and under oath, that his residence was Florida, should be almost conclusive in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.

3. Snipes's world is a "fictional reality"? I wonder if he'll find prison to be a realistic fiction.

[LPC]

It took the Legion of Doom and all the Super Friends to subdue him and get him into the Metropolis rehab where he finds Jesus.

I didn't know that Jesus had been lost.