The defense in the Wesley Snipes tax evasion trial has rested without calling any witnesses.
The prosecution rested the case on Friday. "We chose not to call witnesses, because there was no need to," said Snipes' lawyers in a statement. "The government prosecutors have put on a case that simply does not come close to meeting the standard of its burden of proof to the two conspiracy counts against Wesley and the six misdemeanor counts of failing to willfully file a tax return."
The case moves on to closing arguments on Tuesday. Snipes is on trial in Ocala, Fla., on tax fraud and conspiracy charges after he and two co-defendants had applied for $11 million in refunds on taxes they had previously paid. Snipes is also charged with failing to file a tax return from 1999 to 2004. He has claimed that only foreign earnings are subject to income tax.
Snipes' lawyers had earlier presented a list of possible prominent witnesses they might call, including Muhammad Ali, Goldie Hawn, Spike Lee, Paul Simon, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Brokaw and Barbara Walters.
