Is Wesley Snipes Getting Out of Prison Early Thanks to a Biased Jury?

Actor's attorneys has petitioned Atlanta appellate court for a new trial on tax evasion charges, alleging jury misconduct

By Natalie Finn Sep 06, 2011 7:50 PMTags
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Unlike Blade, Wesley Snipes has only the power of a mortal being. So, he's fighting for his freedom with paperwork, not a big, shiny sword.

After the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his tax-evasion case in June, Snipes' attorneys filed another federal appeal, this time alleging jury misconduct and asking for a new trial.

Today, the imprisoned actor got an answer. Was it the one he wanted to hear?

Nope.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rejected the defense's latest stab at overturning Snipes' 2008 conviction on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns, agreeing with a lower court decision that emails from former jurors to defense attorneys did not "constitute clear, strong, substantial and incontrovertible evidence of the type of misconduct that would warrant a new trial."

Snipes' camp had contended that the emails made it clear that something was fishy on the panel, with one Snipes juror writing that at least three people had assumed the Demolition Man star was guilty before the trial began.

U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges had previously ruled the emails inadmissable because they concerned trial deliberations and blocked Snipes' request to have his attorneys interview the jury panel.

Snipes was locked up in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9 to begin his three-year sentence, and there he shall stay.

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