Jury is out in Snipes tax trial

Wesley Snipes must now await the jury's verdict in Ocala, Florida

The jury in actor Wesley Snipes' tax fraud and conspiracy trial in Florida has retired to consider its verdict.

He is accused of failing to pay tax on $58m (£29.1m) of income from 1999 to 2004, and could face 16 years in jail.

Mr Snipes and two co-defendants deny eight charges in one of the US tax service's biggest ever cases.

Lawyers for Mr Snipes admitted he was "dead wrong" and should have to pay the money back. But they insisted there was no fraud and no need for a trial.

The jury has heard how Mr Snipes stopped paying federal income tax in 2000, and then allegedly sought $12m (£6m) in illegal refunds.

'Non-taxpayer'

They heard he had come to agree with the two other defendants, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P Rosile, two protesters who do not believe the US government has the right to demand income tax on American wages.

Disagreement with the IRS is not fraud Robert Barnes Defence lawyer

Mr Kahn has refused to leave his cell to attend court, insisting the government has no right to prosecute him.

The prosecution said Mr Snipes simply wanted to avoid paying tax. He had sent the government a 600-page document in which he called himself a "non-taxpayer".

"Nobody likes paying taxes, but paying taxes is the price we pay to live in a civilised society," said prosecutor M Scotland Morris.

"And it's the law, and that's what this case is about. It's about three men who felt they were above the law," he argued.

'Kooky' views

Defence lawyers called Mr Snipes' views "crazy" and "kooky". They admitted he owed the government tens of millions of dollars which would take two decades to pay back.

But they denied any crime because Mr Snipes had been open with the government about what he was doing.

"Disagreement with the IRS is not fraud of the IRS, is not deception," argued defence lawyer Robert Barnes.

It's about three men who felt they were above the law M Scotland Morris Prosecutor

"It was an attempt to engage the IRS, to go through the IRS procedures and processes and see who's right," he told the jury.

None of the three called witnesses.

Mr Snipes had failed to get the trial moved from Florida citing possible racial bias.

The jury of seven women and five men must now consider their verdict.