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June 3, 2008

Update: 'Survivor' Hatch takes tax case to highest court

Journal file photo
Richard Hatch outside the courthouse during his 2006 trial.

Richard Hatch couldn’t survive a jury trial or an appeals court when defending himself against federal tax evasion charges.

Now, the winner of the reality TV show Survivor, infamous for baring all by wearing no bottoms, is taking his case all the way to the top -- the U.S. Supreme Court.

At a 2006 trial in U.S. District Court, Providence, a jury found Hatch, 47, of Newport, guilty of not paying taxes on his Survivor winnings, including the $1 million jackpot the show paid him.

Hatch maintains that when he confronted producers about cheating on the show, he was promised that in exchange for his silence, the show would pay his taxes if he won. His Texas lawyer, Michael Minns, an author renowned for challenging the Internal Revenue Service, asserts that trial Judge Ernest C. Torres improperly prevented him from exploring this defense.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals, in Boston, rejected that argument in a decision handed down in February. It concluded that Minns had plenty of opportunity to delve into how the alleged cheating, denied by CBS, related to his failure to pay the taxes he owed.

In a brief filed on May 23 with the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Minns makes the same argument.

Minns also argued the judge unfairly limited his cross-examination of the tax accountant who prepared Hatch’s tax returns and who was a key witness for the government.

"He’s extremely optimistic about his appeal," Minns said of Hatch, who is now in federal prison in West Morgantown, W. Va. "He still believes the system should work."

-- Journal staff writer Richard Salit

The U.S. Department of Justice has until June 30 to respond to Hatch’s appeal. A spokesman declined comment while the case is pending. The U.S. Supreme Court takes up only a small number of the appeals it receives.

Hatch is serving a 51-month sentence, the maximum sentence Torres was permitted to hand down after he concluded that Hatch perjured himself. Hatch is scheduled to be released a year from October.

Minns said Hatch was writing a book about "his experiences with the legal system and his disappointment not just with the problems that he suffered but with the problems other people have suffered that he has met."

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:21 PM | Permalink

Comments

Dear Mr. Hatch:
Your 15 minutes of fame has long since expired.
PLEASE GO AWAY!

Andy Warhol | June 3, 2008 12:32 PM link

Richard:
Sorry you are in jail, however, the system does work and because you failed to pay your taxes you must do the time, stop looking for blame and accept responsibility.

Renee Conlon | June 3, 2008 4:16 PM link

Hatch you won that show before the new millenium, when the economy was stable, at least way more than now.

Now you're exploiting the system while a lot of people now-a-days are suffering to buy food, heat and gas. You're scum of the earth. Hope you rot.

cranston middle class | June 4, 2008 1:44 AM link

June 3, 2008

Update: 'Survivor' Hatch takes tax case to highest court

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