Wesley Snipes again asks for a new tax trial
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — Actor Wesley Snipes made a last-minute request for a new trial a day before he is scheduled to report to prison for failing to pay taxes.
Snipes’ attorney Daniel Meachum has said he received an e-mail from a juror who claims three others on the panel had formed an opinion about Snipes’ guilt before the trial. In the emergency motion filed yesterday in federal court in Ocala, Snipes says the judge erred by not allowing defence attorneys to interview jurors about misconduct allegations.
He’s asking a judge to reconsider his decision not to grant the actor a new trial.
Snipes is required to report to a federal prison in Pennsylvania today. The 48-year-old star of the Blade trilogy was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanour counts of wilful failure to file income tax returns.