United States v. Hatch, No. 06-1902 (1st Cir. 2/1/08)
Richard Hatch, the first winner of the CBS reality tv show "Survivor," appeals from his convictions and sentence on three counts of filing false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 7201 and 7206(1), after a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
Hatch makes four arguments on appeal: (1) that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment rights by curtailing Hatch’s explanation of why he believed the show’s producers had paid the taxes on his "Survivor" winnings; (2) that, in a variety of ways, the court improperly limited the defense’s right to crossexamine; (3) that the court wrongly allowed the government to use what Hatch calls "unqualified experts" while excluding some of the testimony of Hatch’s own expert; and (4) that his sentence was unreasonably harsh. After reviewing the record and the arguments, we affirm the convictions on all three counts and the sentence.
(Hat Tip: Howard Bashman.) Press coverage:
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- "Fat Naked Guy" Gets 51 Months for "Survivor" Tax Dodge (5/16/06)
- Survivor Winner Hatch Blames Tax Troubles on Show’s Producers (1/21/06)
- Jury Selection Begins in Survivor Winner Richard Hatch’s Tax Evasion Trial (1/11/06)
- Survivor: Tax Evasion (12/26/05)
- Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Indicted for Tax Evasion for Failing to Report $1m Income (9/9/05)
- Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Blames CBS for His Tax Woes (3/13/05)
- Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Reneges on Plea Deal with IRS (3/7/05)
- Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Cannot Survive IRS (1/19/05)
4 responses to “Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Loses Appeal of Tax Evasion Conviction in First Circuit”
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
RICHARD WHO?
Wesley Snipes’ predecessor as the Tax Update Taxpayer of the Year briefly emerged from obscurity last week when his appeal…
CA1: More on Hatch (Survivor)
Over here, we covered the fact that the First Circuit affirmed the tax evasion convictions of that guy on survivor. Whatever. I hated the show. I hated the fact that people talked about it. It hurt America. People that talked