Trial of Brooke Astor’s Son Taking Longer Than Expected
August 18, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Originally expected to last no more than 10 weeks, the trial of Anthony Marshall, the son of the late New York philanthropist Brooke Astor, has exceeded 17 weeks, with no clear end in sight, reports The New York Times.
Mr. Marshall and one of Mrs. Astor’s lawyers, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., are accused of exploiting her declining health to gain a larger share of her estimated $180-million fortune. Mrs. Astor died in 2007 at age 105 and left significant sums to charities in her will. How much goes to those organizations will be determined in part by the outcome of the trial.
Legal experts say the prosecution is to be blamed for the trial’s unusually lengthy duration, noting that the lawyers have called many witnesses. Other experts say that the length could mar the jury’s decision making.
“At some point, the jury is going to be overwhelmed with too much information, and they are simply going to forget what they heard,” says Jeffrey H. Lichtman, a defense lawyer.
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