WESLEY SNIPES - SNIPES' CONFIDENT LAWYERS DON'T CALL A SINGLE WITNESS

Actor WESLEY SNIPES' defence team in his tax and conspiracy trial rested on Monday (28Jan08) after not calling a single witness. The Blade star stands accused of conspiring to defraud the U.S. out of millions of dollars in 2000 as part of a conspiracy scheme with co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile, and then failing to file tax returns. But Snipes' legal team is so certain the case against the 45-year-old will be thrown out of court, no defence witnesses were summoned to take the stand. The prosecution rested its case on Friday (25Jan08). Snipes' attorney Daniel Meachum says, "We chose not to call witnesses because there was no need to. The government prosecutors have put on a case that simply does not come close to meeting the standard of its burden of proof. "It was obvious after we went over the evidence the government presented that we could move on to closing arguments immediately and get a just acquittal for Wesley on all counts listed in the indictment." Snipes faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted, while Kahn and Rosile both face a maximum 10 year sentence.