Todd and Julie Chrisley might be behind bars, but they haven’t exactly been silenced. The former Chrisley Knows Best stars recently presented their case to a court of appeals.
Well, the reality stars themselves weren’t present for the case. But the arguments played out regardless, with oral arguments coming to a close. Even though Todd had an outpouring of support before the hearing, his odds don’t look great.
PEOPLE featured arguments from the Chrisleys’ attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office rep.
Did the Chrisleys deliberately evade the IRS?
Former Burr and Forman LLP partner Alex Little claimed that “the evidence suggested that the prosecutors here worked in concert with the witness.” Little further explained the claims of misconduct. “First, the issue that was discussed that came out in the redirect and then the re-cross of Officer Betty Carter was whether the Chrisleys had paid taxes in the post-conspiracy period.”
“Now, the district court below confirmed that that would have a potential prejudicial effect on the defendants leading the jury to believe that they had not paid their taxes, that they weren’t interested in paying taxes, that they were [the] type of person who could commit fraud charged in the other acts. That effect spills over not just to the tax charges but to all of the fraud charges in this case.”
Little further argued that the government was at fault for any taxing errors related to the Chrisleys. “In the system, if you had looked, …. you can see both taxpayers and you can see that there’s a large sum sitting for Todd Chrisley that has not been applied to the joint return with Julie Chrisley.”
However, Annalise Peters, a representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, disagreed. She argued, “the Chrisleys had taken a number of steps to evade the IRS.” She further added, “If there are credible allegations and some evidence proffered about any sort of government misconduct a hearing should be had. That’s simply not what we have in this case.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK THE APPEAL WILL BE A SUCCESS?
