Results tagged “astortrial”

Three years ago Brooke Astor's grandson Philip Marshall accused his father, Anthony Marshall, of elder abuse, leading to numerous charges. Now, with his father was found guilty, it looks like he and his twin brother will lose out on $10 million each. The NY Times reports that a codicil to Astor's will that Anthony Marshall allegedly manipulated gave him access to $60 million immediately—and he intended to leave a third to his sons. That codicil will probably be rejected but the younger Marshall doesn't seem to mind "I’ve always felt that this money didn’t belong to us. To take money that our grandmother intended to give to charity is like taking blood money."

NY Times courts beat reporter John Eligon details how he, "a 26-year-old dreadlocked black guy who has been in the city for only four years and, truth be told, did not know who Brooke Astor was until she died in 2007," became obsessed with the Astor trial, even dreaming about it (there was "a nightmare about missing the verdict"). Eligon got to know the figures: Defendant Anthony Marshall told him how wonderful Trinidad, where Eligon grew up, was (Marshall had been ambassador there); Marshall's wife Charlene loved his dreadlocks, once even running her hands through them; and co-defendant Francis Morrissey told him he looked like a kouros as well as Toussaint L’Ouverture.

The jurors in the trial about the late Brooke Astor's estate continue to offer glimpses of what the six-month (!!!) marathon was like. They found Astor's 85-year-old son Anthony Marshall guilty of grand larceny—and the decision was not taken lightly. The jury forewoman Kristina Jezycki told the Daily News, "It's difficult to have a World War II veteran in this position. I have always respected my elders, so I find it very difficult to handle."

With Anthony Marshall found guilty of looting the $200 million estate of his mother—the late philanthopist Brooke Astor—the tabloids are reveling in the drama of it all. Heck, the Post goes for the gusto with the headline "Tony's Miss Piggy skewered in Astor verdict," referring to Marshall's wife Charlene.

Since he told jurors—way back in late March— that the trial over Brooke Astor's will would take 8-10 weeks, Justice Kirke Bartley Jr. had to apologize to jurors last month for the trial's slow pace: So far, the case has gone on for 17 weeks—and the prosecution is only wrapping up today! Bartley even had to cancel his own vacation, according to the NY Times. Prosecutors contend Astor's son and a lawyer plotted to take more of her estate while she was ailing and NYU law professor Stephen Gillers explains, "This is not a smoking-gun case, this is not an eyewitness case. This is a circumstantial case. The challenge is enormous to show a woman’s state of mind five and a half years ago when she’s no longer here." But defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman points out, "It would appear to me that the case is being overtried by the district attorney’s office. The question of competence does not necessarily, in my view, require the testimony of every human being who came into contact with Brooke Astor in the latter years of her life." You know, if the trial wrapped up faster, maybe the jury forewoman wouldn't have been attacked on the subway!

We knew that being on a jury for the Astor trial was hard work, considering that it's been going on for months (jury selection was back in March-April!!), there have been tons of witnesses (apparently 14,000 transcription pages worth) and Astor's son and co-defendant, Anthony Marshall, has had many health issues. But now we find out it can even be dangerous work: The jury's forewoman was headed home from court when she was attacked by a knife-wielding stranger on an uptown 4 train!

During the latest day in the trial of Anthony Marshall, the late philanthropist Brooke Astor's son, a lawyer who represented both son and mother testified that Marshall diligently crunched the numbers to calculate what his wife would get, in the case of his death. Because Astor despised daughter-in-law Charlene Marshall that she explicitly told lawyer-turned-witness Henry Christensen that she didn't want to leave anything to her. Christensen said that Anthony Marshall gave him a 2001 memo, titled, "Concern: My ability to provide sufficient financial assistance to Charlene upon my death after distributions and expenses, including taxes." But Christensen said that in spite that Charlene owned their $2 million apartment plus had a $1 million trust fund (that would earn $115,000/year in interest) set up by her husband, Marshall was "concerned she wasn't going to have anything." Marshall is accused of forging his mother's signature on a will and asking her to sign another will—while she was in mental decline—to give him $60 million meant for charitable groups.

Rub the war criminal's belly three times and make a wish! Yes, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took a little stumble this morning as he left the Manhattan State Supreme Court building. He had been testifying in the trial of Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall and his lawyer Francis Morrissey; the men are accused of looting Astor's fortune.

The continuing trial over whether or not Anthony Marshall and a lawyer essentially stole the fortune of Marshall's mother—legendary philanthropist Brooke Astor—hit the waterworks yesterday when Marshall's twins son testified against him. The Post said during testimony, Marshall, 84, "hunched forward at the defense table" and "held his forehead in his trembling right hand" while, during a break, the NY Times saw him and his third wife, Charlene Marshall, "sat red-faced on a bench in the hallway. Tears trickled from their eyes."

As they have since the beginning of the trial, prosecutors continued to present witnesses who say that Brooke Astor's mental faculties were on the decline in her later years. Astor's son Anthony Marshall, along with his lawyer Francis X. Morrissey, is accused of changing her will and forging her signature on a codicil, which gave him more money, and selling her artwork (allegedly telling her she was broke). Broadway and film producer John Hart testified that in spite of Astor meeting actor Matthew Broderick many times, she didn't recognize him at a post-Producers dinner; he recalled the actor saying, "Brooke, I’m Matthew. You love me. What did you think of the play?” Hart also said that during a 2003 visit with her, she told him, "I am gaga," apparently recognizing her problems. Hart added that Astor seemed to agree with Andrew Carnegie's belief that no good came from inherited wealth (the Rockefellers being the exception).

If prosecutors are accusing you of being a horrible son and swindling your mother's fortune by forging her signature in a will, what do you do on Mother's Day: Do you stay home and rest up your 84-year-old body for the trial or do you head to your mother's grave to pay your respects? The NY Post went to the home of Anthony Marshall, son of legendary philanthropist Brooke Astor, and ultimately surmised that he "didn't visit his mom Brooke Astor's grave on Mother's Day yesterday because he was too busy taking orders from the woman who replaced her -- his accused money-grubbing wife." Charlene Marshall first said that Marshall wasn't there, only for Marshall to appear in his nightshirt "looking frail." His wife told him to leave, told the reporter that he had to rest (Marshall is on trial for grand larceny and conspiracy for the changes to his mother's will) and explained they couldn't answer any questions, per lawyer's orders. The Post reports that there were "no new flowers" on Astor's grave; previously the paper criticized the disrepair at the site.

Chronicler of high society Louis Auchincloss testified yesterday in the trial of famed philanthropist Brooke Astor's son, Anthony Marshall. Auchincloss, who had been friends with Astor for 60 years, supported the prosecution's argument that Astor was senile in her later years. The NY Times reports Auchincloss cited a 2001 lunch where Astor didn't recall him—"It was a great shock to me because she didn’t know me. She knew she ought to know me"—as well as a 1998 discussion where Astor claimed to know Edith Wharton, "This was astonishing to me. I’d written a biography of Edith Wharton. She had told me, which I knew to be true, that she’d never met Edith Wharton. She could have, but I happened to know she hadn’t." The prosecution contends that Astor was not of sound mind when Marshall and a lawyer had her sign a codicil to her will in 2004, which gave Marshall $60 million outright, instead of getting a percentage of trust money.