Wesley Snipes' federal tax-evasion trial wasn't quite as taxing as expected for the actor's defense team.
Lawyers representing the star in his tax-dodging case, which could potentially see him sent to prison through 2024, unexpectedly rested their case Monday morning without calling a single witness—big name or otherwise—to testify in the trial.
Snipes' legal team, led by Robert Barnes, rested its case after just one hour in the courtroom. The prosecution, by contrast, spent the past two weeks arguing their case for the jury and only rested on Friday.
Barnes & Co. explained their no-defense tactic by claiming the prosecution's case was so weak, they bore the "complete failure of their burden."
"We could have called a bunch of Hollywood stars," Snipes attorney Robert Bernhoft said, adding that the decision not to call any of Tinseltown's finest to testify was only made Sunday night after a closer examination of the prosecution's case.
"We could have put on a big show, but we don't do that. We're not going to waste the jury's time."
Prior to this morning's sign-off, Snipes' attorneys were expected to call any number of Hollywood stars to the federal courthouse in Ocala, Florida. Sylvester Stallone, Muhammad Ali, Spike Lee, Tom Brokaw, Goldie Hawn and Woody Harrelson were among those on the list of possible defense witnesses.
Many of the aforementioned celebs were at one time clients of Starr and Co., a New York financial management company that Snipes claims gave him faulty advice about proper tax-paying etiquette. The company handled the Blade star's money between 1993 and 2000.
On Friday, Internal Revenue Service agent Steward Stich testified that between 1999 and 2004, Snipes earned $37,897,053, but that he failed to file tax returns or pay any taxes whatsoever on the income.
According to the prosecution, Snipes also sought to receive a tax refund of nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 in taxes he'd already paid, per the U.S. Treasury, by use of fake checks.
Snipes' defense team has maintained that the star is not at fault and that he instead was simply the victim of unscrupulous tax advisers. The 45-year-old star has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
"It was obvious after we went over the evidence the government presented that we could move on to closing arguments immediately and get a just acquittal for Wesley on all counts listed in the indictment," said Snipes attorney Daniel Meachum.
The trial, presided over by U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges, is expected to enter into closing arguments Tuesday, after which time the case will be handed over to the jury. A quick verdict is not expected in the trial, as jurors will likely need to wade through years of documents pertaining to the actor's tax and income history as well as those relating to his two codefendants.
Snipes, along with Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile—the men behind American Rights Litigators, a Florida accounting firm once on Snipes' payroll which purportedly specializes in circumventing the IRS—are each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of aiding and abetting the making of a false and fraudulent claim as part of an alleged tax fraud scheme. Snipes is additionally charged with six counts of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns.
Snipes was present in the courtroom for Monday's brief proceedings. On his way out of the courtroom, the seemingly in good spirits star smiled and waved at assembled fans and media.
His behavior is a far cry from the past few months, which he spent unsuccessfully petitioning the court to redirect his trial out of Ocala, complaining that the area's supposedly poor race-relations would prevent him from receiving a fair trial. He currently faces an all-white jury.
If convicted on the counts, Snipes could face up to 16 years in prison, although typical sentences in such cases are far shorter.