Helio Castroneves lost his motion for a mistrial Wednesday but did succeed in getting U.S. district Judge Donald Graham to amend his instructions on a couple of key issues.
The up and down nature of the Helio Castroneves trial continued through Wednesday after the Brazilian's lawyers has their motion for a mistrial denied. (LAT)
The attorneys for Helio Castroneves lost their motion for a mistrial Wednesday but they did succeed in getting U.S. district Judge Donald Graham to amend his instructions to the jury on a couple of key issues.
On the fourth day of deliberations in Castroneves' tax evasion trial, the jury had to knock off early (3 p.m.) due to a personal issue with one of 12 jurors and they didn't seem any closer to a verdict because of all the confusion over the legalese.
Following Tuesday's action, in which Graham tried to clarify his instructions to the jury on constructive receipt and binding contracts, defense attorneys Roy Black and David Garvin filed a move for a mistrial.
Graham denied their motion Wednesday but agreed to change the language of the following terms. Instead of calling Roger Penske the employer and Castroneves the employee, the jury was told to refer to Penske as the payor and Seven Promotions as the payee.
The changes dealt with the relationship between Castroneves and Penske Racing, which signed a contract with the 33-year-old Brazilian racer late 1999. But his licensing deal was actually between a Panamanian tax shelter and Penske, which is at the heart of the government's conspiracy case against Castroneves, his sister, Kati, and his lawyer, Alan Miller.
Graham also allowed that a "binding agreement" could be written or oral.
Since Monday, the jury has been questioning some of the complex issues of this seven-week old case, which threatens the career of the two-time Indy 500 winner.
Charged with failing to pay taxes on $5.5 million earned between 1999 and 2004,.Castroneves is facing jail and possible deportation if found guilty.The jurors must decide whether Castroneves owed taxes on income from the Penske contract that was supposed to be paid to the Panamanian company, Seven Promotions, in 2000-02, but instead was sent later on to a Dutch entity named Fintage for a retirement annuity.
If the Miami resident is acquitted in time, he's got an early morning Friday flight to Los Angeles reserved, and an IndyCar waiting to drive for Penske in the Long Beach Grand Prix.
