Rare Jury Verdict Delay 'Sheer Agony' for Bob Bennett & Client Attorney
After days of deliberation, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida returned a verdict on Thursday in a tax evasion case against Michigan attorney Alan Miller. But it wasn’t announced until the jury also reached a verdict on charges against Miller’s tax client, Indy 500 and Dancing with the Stars” champion Helio Castroneves and his sister.
The unusual wait to hear the jury’s decision was “sheer agony,” says Washington, D.C., attorney Bob Bennett of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, who represented the 71-year-old Miller. “Can you imagine the tension and emotion?” he recounts in a Blog of Legal Times post today.
But a day after the secret Thursday jury decision there was good news for all the defendants. In verdicts announced Friday, the jury acquitted Miller on all charges and acquitted Castroneves and his sister on the substantive tax charges against them. The jury deadlocked on a conspiracy charge against Castroneves and his sister.
Partner Roy Black of Miami’s Black Srebnick Kornspan & Strumpf represented Castroneves.
If convicted, the defendants likely would have faced prison sentences, the law blog notes.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Celebrity Attorney & Client Charged in Federal Tax Evasion Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Verdict Sealed in Fatal N.Y. Fire Case Despite Lawyers’ Objections”
Blog of Legal Times: “Bennett, Black Team Up On Indy Driver Case”
Los Angeles Times: “Helio Castroneves is acquitted, expected to race in Long Beach”
Miami Herald (April 5): “Driver Helio Castroneves faces extra legal challenge in tax case”
