Jury selection to begin in Marshall estate looting trial

Jury selection set for trial of Brooke Astor’s son
Associated Press
March 30, 2009
Boston Herald
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view/2009_03_30_Jury_selection_set_for_trial_of_Brooke_Astor_s_son/srvc=news&position=also
NEW YORK — The son of the late socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor goes on trial on charges of plundering her $198 million estate.

After more than a year of delays, jury selection begins Monday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court for the trial of Anthony Marshall and his co-defendant, Francis Morrissey, a lawyer who helped with her estate planning.

The trial is expected to take two weeks for a trial that might last two months and involve some 60 witnesses, possibly including Annette de la Renta, wife of fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and Astor’s court-appointed personal guardian; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and banker David Rockefeller.

It was unknown whether Astor’s grandson, Phillip Marshall, the defendant’s son and the principal reason for the trial, will testify. Phillip Marshall, a college professor in Massachusetts, filed a petition in 2006 asking the court to intervene and remove his father as principal guardian of his then-104-year-old grandmother’s affairs.

The younger Marshall said his father was in effect abusing Astor by stinting on her medications and forcing her to wear tattered nightgowns, eat pureed peas and other substandard meals and sleep on a urine-stained sofa, all so he didn’t have to spend her money on her.

Many of Astor’s household staff also are expected to testify for the prosecution.

The resulting court fight led to a settlement in which Justice John Stackhouse made de la Renta Astor’s personal guardian and Marshall relinquished any authority over his mother’s affairs. The settlement also provided there would be no unseemly grasping at the society doyenne’s millions until after she died.

Astor, known for decades as the doyenne of New York society and philanthropy, gave away nearly $200 million to institutions such as the New York Public Library and Carnegie Hall. She died Aug. 13, 2007, at age 105.

Her son and Morrissey were indicted three months later.

A Manhattan grand jury charged Marshall with grand larceny and other offenses, alleging he stole cash, art and other property from his mother while she was alive. He was accused of using her money to buy himself a 55-foot yacht and to pay its captain.

Morrissey was charged with forgery and related crimes. He was accused of helping Marshall alter Astor’s will and cutting by half the more than $60 million meant for her favorite charities and giving it to Marshall.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. Marshall’s lawyer Kenneth Warner has said Astor was simply generous to her only child. Morrissey’s lawyer Thomas Puccio said after a hearing last Wednesday that his client “can make a strong presentation” that he is innocent.

Prosecutors are expected to call medical experts to testify about whether Astor was mentally competent to rewrite her will. They are also expected to call handwriting experts to give opinions about the validity of her will signatures.

Prosecutors have said they will ask Morrissey about his suspension from law practice if he takes the witness stand to deny that he did anything improper with Astor’s will.

Marshall has missed several of the last scheduled court appearances because of his health. He had heart bypass surgery last fall. But he is expected to be present for the start of jury selection.

If convicted of the top offenses against them, Marshall, 84, would face up to 25 years in prison, and Morrissey, 65, would face seven years.

Jury selection begins for Anthony Marshall son of NYC ‘first lady’ Brooke Astor
Melissa Grace
March 29, 2009
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/03/29/2009-03-29_jury_selection_begins_for_anthony_marsha.html
Brooke Astor would have turned 107 Monday.

Instead of a poignant memorial for New York’s unofficial first lady, her only son – 84-year-old Anthony Marshall – will go on trial on charges of looting her nearly $200 million fortune.

Jury selection is set to start inside Manhattan’s Criminal Court building – a place that would make Astor’s blue-blood friends cringe.

Among the possible witnesses are some of those high-society pals, like banker David Rockefeller, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and New York socialite Annette de la Renta, the wife of famed fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.

“It’s showtime,” said Meryl Gordon, author of a book about the socialite’s life and tragic end, “Mrs. Astor Regrets.”

“I’m amazed. No one really thought it would come to this – and there is a sadness,” Gordon said of the social set the philanthropist and her son mixed in.

Marshall faces fraud, conspiracy and grand larceny charges. He faces up to 25 years behind bars, if convicted. Jury selection is expected to take two weeks and the trial could run for two months.

The made-for-headlines case was sparked when Marshall’s son, Philip, in 2006 filed a blockbuster guardianship petition claiming his famous grandmother had become a prisoner in her gilded Park Ave. home.

The suit accused Anthony Marshall of neglecting Astor’s health by penny-pinching on medicine, food and visits with her beloved dachshunds, Boysie and Girlsie.

That case settled when a judge appointed de la Renta, Astor’s best friend, as the grand dame’s guardian and stripped Marshall of any authority over her.

Astor died on Aug. 13, 2007. Three months later, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau filed an 18-count indictment against Marshall and lawyer Francis Morrissey.

The indictment says Marshall stole artwork from his mom, gave himself a $1 million raise for acting as her financial adviser and spent her cash to buy a 55-foot yacht and pay the captain’s $52,000 annual salary.

The case charges Marshall – with Morrissey’s legal guidance – convinced his mother to sell property by claiming she was running out of dough. It also charges they took millions Astor intended for her favorite charities.

Philip Marshall, a college professor in Massachusetts, said he is working and will not attend his father’s trial – except to testify against him.

“I have not been subpoenaed by either the people or the defendant, but I expect I will be,” he said.

Many of Astor’s former caregivers who signed affidavits that form the nuts and bolts of the proof against Anthony Marshall are expected to testify against the former Marine and U.S. ambassador. So will lawyers involved in preparing Astor’s wills.

A source close to the case said some of Astor’s pals just wish the whole thing would go away.

“David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger want out of this whole matter,” the source said. “They are just not interested. They never expected it to go this far. It’s Annette who is out for blood.”

Gordon said the outcome could hinge on whether Marshall testifies.

“I will be fascinated to see if Tony Marshall gets on the witness stand,” Gordon said. “He is a very dignified man, he almost always wears his Marine tie and he’s been insisting all along he’s innocent. It would be interesting to see if he’s willing to stand up in front of a jury and say so.”

As to Philip Marshall testifying against his father, “That will be a painful day, at least for that family,” said Gordon, who is covering the trial for Vanity Fair magazine.

Prosecutors contend Marshall and Morrissey coerced Astor into amending her will several times after doctors told Marshall in 2001 that his mother’s dementia was severe.

The two have pleaded not guilty. Their lawyers say Astor was mentally sharp when the documents were updated.

Marshall’s lawyers contend prosecutors cherry picked their way through Astor’s “clear pattern of well-informed generosity” toward her only child.

“We pleaded not guilty and we think we can make a strong presentation that he’s innocent of all charges,” said Morrissey’s lawyer, Thomas Puccio.

In both Astor’s 1997 and 2002 wills, Marshall gets the bulk of her estate. In the will updates, $66 million once earmarked for charities is cut by half – with Marshall and his third wife, Charlene, benefiting.

The New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art lost more than $10 million each in the updated wills.

Besides medical testimony about Astor’s mental capacity, handwriting experts will take the stand on the legitimacy of Astor’s last official signatures.

“Whatever happens in criminal court will dramatically affect the will fight,” Gordon said. “The fight is over money that would have gone to charity.”