Anna Nicole Smith Wins Ruling
Anna Nicole Smith Wins Ruling
By James Vicini
Former Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith won a unanimous Supreme Court ruling on Monday giving her a new chance to collect millions of dollars she says her late Texas oil tycoon husband had promised her.The justices overturned a ruling that the former topless dancer and Playboy centerfold was entitled to nothing because federal courts lacked jurisdiction to hear claims that are also involved in state court hearings over the will.
The high court's ruling held that Smith can pursue her disputed inheritance case in federal court, giving her a second chance to contest her late husband's will. It did not address the merits of her arguments that she should get the money.
In California, Kent Richland, an attorney representing Smith, said, "She's extremely excited that we got this ruling." He expressed confidence the appeals court would rule in her favor on the remaining issues.
Smith was 26 when she married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, then 89, in 1994. They had met three years earlier when she was dancing in a Houston bar.
Marshall was one of the wealthiest men in Texas, worth more than an estimated $1.6 billion. His death after 14 months of marriage triggered a legal battle between his son, E. Pierce Marshall and Smith, who had a reality show.
"This case concerns the claims of petitioner Vickie Lynn Marshall, also known as Anna Nicole Smith, to share in the large fortune of her deceased husband," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in announcing the ruling from the bench.
Smith Awarded $88 Million
Smith said that her husband had promised her half of his estate. The son said the more than $6 million in gifts she received in 1994 was all his father wanted her to get.
In Texas, a state probate court ruled that E. Pierce Marshall was entitled to his father's estate.
But in California, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled for Smith and awarded her $474 million because of her claims that the son had interfered with the inheritance she was supposed to receive.
A federal district court judge then cut Smith's award to $88 million. But a U.S. appeals court ruled she was entitled to nothing because federal courts lack jurisdiction in probate disputes.
Ginsburg concluded in the 18-page opinion that the appeals court was wrong and that the district court properly asserted jurisdiction over Smith's claims against the son.
"Vickie Marshall's claim ... qualifies for adjudication in federal court," Ginsburg said from the bench. She said the appeals court incorrectly ruled that the Texas probate court had exclusive jurisdiction to resolve the dispute.
In Texas, E. Pierce Marshall said the ruling involved a "technical issue" and did not validate Smith's claims. He said his lawyers would ask the appeals court to overturn on various grounds the district court's ruling in Smith's favor.
"I will continue to fight to clear my name in California federal court. That is a promise that Vickie and her lawyers can take to the bank," he said in a statement. "I will continue to fight to uphold my father's estate plan and clear my name."
Author: James Vicini
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