Snipes' lawyer admits his letters were 'kooky'
'Kooky, crazy and loony is not a crime,' Snipes' lawyer tells the court in closing arguments
Lawyers acting for Wesley Snipes in his tax evasion case have admitted their
client’s correspondence, which flooded the tax office was sometimes
‘kooky, crazy and loony‘.
Instead of filing tax returns on his £19m earnings, Snipes sent several
letters to the US tax agency between 1999 and 2004.
He is charged with six counts of failing to file returns and two further
charges for fraudulently claiming tax refunds, and one to defraud the
government.
His lawyer, Robert Barnes, told the court in closing arguments yesterday that
‘Kooky, crazy and loony is not a crime,’
Reuters
reported.
Prosecutors have brought a case showing that the star of Blade ignored
warnings to pay his tax and instead conspired with tax denial accountants Eddie
Kahn and Douglas Rosile, to defraud the government.
The jury must now decide whether Snipes’ letters to the Internal Revenue
Service was an effort to construct dialogue over their procedures or whether he
intended to criminally avoid paying millions in taxes that he owed from previous
years.
Further reading:
Jury
to Start Deliberations in Wesley Snipes Tax Case
Snipes
Trial Offers IRS Perfect Script
Snipes’ legal team ends defence without star witnesses