As 45-year-old actor Wesley Snipes� sits in a court room chair facing tax fraud, conspiracy and willful failure to file tax returns, the next 16 years of his life could soon be predetermined.
Like most celebrities that find themselves in �sticky situations,� Snipes is claiming that he fell victim to poor advice provided by his two co-defendants, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile. Of course, this claim was quickly overshadowed by Kenneth Starr, head of New York-based Starr and Co., who testified last Thursday that he tried to persuade Snipes to pay his taxes in a 90-minute telephone conversation in 2000.
Like most celebrities that find themselves in �sticky situations,� Snipes is claiming that he fell victim to poor advice provided by his two co-defendants, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile. Of course, this claim was quickly overshadowed by Kenneth Starr, head of New York-based Starr and Co., who testified last Thursday that he tried to persuade Snipes to pay his taxes in a 90-minute telephone conversation in 2000.
Wesley Snipes' lawyers have moved to further delay the actor's jail sentence - they have filed a court motion asking to question the jurors who convicted the star on tax evasion charges.
The Blade actor lost an appeal against his three-year jail term earlier this month after a 2008 trial found him guilty of three misdemeanour counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns.
Prosecutors this week urged the judge overseeing the case to revoke Snipes' bail and send him to prison immediately to begin his sentence.
The star's legal team has hit back by filing a motion on Friday asking permission to question jurors involved in his trial to find out whether they had pre-determined his guilt before the case was heard in court.
The motion claims Snipes' attorney Daniel Meachum received an email from an unnamed juror alleging three others on the panel had presumed Snipe's guilt, which would constitute a breach of his right to a fair trial, according to the Associated Press.
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