After Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of committing tax fraud, the pair filed a motion for a new trial and an acquittal.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, August 25, the couple are requesting a new trial on the grounds that “the government presented and failed to correct false” testimony during their initial case.
Todd, 53, and Julie’s legal team claimed that IRS Revenue Officer Betty Carter “lied” about the reality TV stars owing taxes. In the legal argument, Carter’s testimony is compared to “falsely painting the Chrisleys as untruthful, likely to commit other forms of fraud, and evading the tax payments alleged” in the indictment.
The motion also alleged that the “substantial volumes of evidence” that were admitted into court had been “obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment” and should be excluded. In the paperwork, the attorneys referred to evidence presented by the government as having “substantive problems.” The lawyers argued that a new trial would allow for a case to be made against their clients with “evidence lawfully obtained and witnesses who testify truthfully.”
In the request for an acquittal, the documents claimed there was no evidence that Julie, 49, “participated in any of the specifically alleged bank frauds.” The legal argument continued to argue there was no sufficient evidence to prove Julie and Todd were involved in bank fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion or conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
The filing comes two months after the Chrisley Knows Best stars were convicted on 12 counts of tax evasion, bank and wire fraud, and conspiracy. The couple, who were found guilty in June after previously being indicted in 2019, filed for a new trial ahead of their sentencing later this year. (Todd and Julie have continued to deny the charges against them.)
Amid their legal woes, a source told Us that “the entire family is devastated about the verdict” as they “[weren’t] sure what this means for the future of Chrisley Knows Best” and other projects. “No one knows what’s going to happen or what to do at this stage,” the insider added. “Any future planning in Todd and Julie’s life is pretty much on pause until they learn of the sentencing in the fall. It’s horrible news and they were not expecting to be found guilty. Their whole life changed in that moment.”
The real estate tycoon, for his part, broke his silence about the verdict during an episode of his “Chrisley Confessions” podcast. “We wanted to let everyone know that it’s a very sad, heartbreaking time for our family right now,” he said that same month. “But we still hold steadfast in our faith and we trust that God will do what he does because God’s a miracle worker — and that’s what we’re holding out for.”
One month later, the twosome offered an update on how their marriage was doing in the aftermath of the legal ordeal.
“You know, I actually think that this has made our marriage stronger,” he reflected during an episode of his podcast in July. “I said, ‘You can have glue that you’re stuck together because [of] children or you’re stuck together because it’s routine or whatever.’ I think that we are stuck together, I know from my perspective, that I’m stuck to her for life because I want to be — not because it’s routine, not because it’s habit and not because we have children.”
Julie also noted that she wouldn’t want to go through the “ups and downs” with anyone but her husband.
With reporting by Diana Cooper
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