The Supreme Court this morning denied the cert. petition of Wesley Snipes, who is serving his three-year sentence on three counts of willful failure to file tax returns under § 7203. The cert. petition had raised these two issues:
- Is an accused person deprived of the right under Article III and the Sixth Amendment to be tried only by a jury of the community where venue is proper, when factual questions determinative of whether venue has been correctly laid are determined solely by a jury selected in the place challenged by the defendant as incorrect?
- Where venue is a contested factual issue in a criminal trial, does the government bear a burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt or only by a preponderance of the evidence?
