Snipes jury adjourns for day without verdict

Actor is accused of fraud and conspiracy in an eight-count indictment

	Wesley Snipes signs autographs outside the Golden-Collum Memorial Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Ocala, Fla. on Jan. 29 after court recessed for the day.
Joe Kaleita / AP

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updated 7:04 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2008

OCALA, Fla. - The jury in actor Wesley Snipes’ tax case passed its first full day of deliberation Wednesday without a verdict.

Snipes and two co-defendants are accused of fraud and conspiracy in an eight-count indictment from 2006. The action star faces six additional charges for failing to file tax returns from 1999-2004.

The IRS alleges Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile engaged them in a long fight insisting the actor didn’t owe any taxes. The government must prove not only that Snipes and company broke the law, but that they meant to.

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Snipes’ lawyers say he was a victim of bad financial advice, and sincerely believed he didn’t have to pay the government anything.

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Kahn is the alleged ringleader of a central Florida tax protest group called American Rights Litigators, then Guiding Light of God Ministries. Kahn, a former CPA who lost licenses to practice in Florida and Ohio, allegedly drew up Snipes’ fraudulent refund claims.