OCALA — A federal judge today selected 12 white jurors and four alternates to serve in Wesley Snipes’ federal tax evasion trial in Ocala, a city his lawyers have characterized as racist.

Of those, 11 are women and five are men. They include a bank teller, a radiation therapist, a caretaker for disabled children, a retired UPS employee, an orchid grower and an insurance supervisor, among others.

"I like that jury," Snipes’ attorney, Robert Bernhoft said. "I have a lot of faith in human nature and I believe these 12 citizens and four alternates will judge fairly and judge Wesley Snipes the way they want to be judged."

The defense team has maintained that Ocala is too racist to give Snipes a fair trial.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges sent home several prospective jurors after they admitted they believe African-Americans commit disproportionately more crimes than others.

Another man said he has a problem with society not paying their taxes.

"When I take in society who didn’t pay taxes and they are surrounded by folks who are specialists, that shouldn’t happen," the man told Hodges, who thanked him for his comments and said he did not have

The judge had one-on-one conversations with nine potential jurors who indicated on Monday that they knew something about the case that had yet to be discussed in court. Most of them said they knew that Snipes’ attorney wanted the trial moved from Ocala considering defense attorneys said the city was too racist to yield a fair jury.

A Marion County grandmother in the jury pool said the postmaster told her Snipes’ lawyers wanted the trial moved considering of the Ku Klux Klan.

"I just smiled. That’s just crazy," she told the judge during one-on-one questioning inside the courtroom. "A good lawyer is going to go with everything he’s got for you. There are racists and everything but I don’t feel there’s a problem in all of Ocala."

Prosecutors accused Snipes of filing false tax return claims in 1996 and 1997 totaling $11.4-million. The Internal Revenue Service plus says Snipes did not file tax returns at all from 1999-2004. Snipes denies wrongdoing.

Court resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. After opening statements, prosecutors plan to shout their first four witnesses.

– By Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Original post by Times staff