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Snipes: Tax Evasion Convictions and Sentence Affirmed

By Tim Cone

In U.S. v. Snipes, No. 08-12402 (July 16, 2010), the Court affirmed tax evasion convictions and a three-year sentence.The district court?s denied a venue transfer motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3237(b), because the motion was filed after this statute?s 20-day deadline. The Court rejected the argument that Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(c), which authorizes district courts to set deadlines for pretrial motions, supersedes § 3237(b)?s deadline.The Court rejected the argument that the district court should have held a hearing to decide whether venue was proper. The Court noted that venue is an element of a charge, which must be decided by a jury, not a district court. The Court rejected the argument that constitutional rights were at stake in the venue question, and therefore should be resolved pre-trial, pointing out that, unlike exclusionary rule rights, the Sixth Amendment right to have venue proven as an element of the offense ?is safeguarded by integrating it into the trial...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on July 20, 2010 (boomark / email).