[Vision2020] Anna Nicole Smith Gets Her Day in Supreme Court

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (March, 1, 2006) Spokesman Review -

Could somebody please explain to me the necessity for the United States
Supreme Court to hear an appeal by Anna Nicole Smith against her former
husband's estate?

Is the docket of the United States Supreme Court so light that the senility
of our aging justices must be entertained by an Anna Nicole Smith T&A
matinee?

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Anna Nicole Smith Gets Her Day in Supreme Court

Gina Holland 
Associated Press
March 1, 2006

WASHINGTON - Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith's date with the
Supreme Court had all the trappings of a soap opera: tears, a family feud
and lots of money.

And justices hinted that the 11-year fight was far from over.

The court will decide in a few months whether to renew Smith's claim to a
piece of the estate of Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall II, who died at age
90 after a brief marriage to Smith.

The case pits Smith, 38, against her former stepson, 67-year-old E. Pierce
Marshall.

Both were in court.

Smith wept as justices discussed her former husband.

Pierce Marshall, and accompanied by his wife, said afterward, "If I have to
fight this for another 10 years I'm ready to do it."

Justices treaded delicately on the subject matter.

Chief Justice John Roberts said the case involved "a substantial amount of
assets," referring to the fortune of Smith's husband of 14 months. The
estate was estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.

The court's other new member, Samuel Alito, remained silent, as did Justice
Clarence Thomas.

Otherwise, however, it was a lively debate that included many references to
Smith and her plight, although justices referred to her by her given name,
Vickie Lynn.

Justice Stephen Breyer said there was evidence that J. Howard Marshall's
will was forged and that the son hired private detectives to keep Smith away
from her elderly husband's sickbed. She was a 26-year-old topless dancer,
divorced with a son, when she and Marshall were married. One of her
husband's nurses testified that Smith bared her breasts to the bedridden man
as part of her effort to get an inheritance.

"It's quite a story," Breyer said.

Justice David Souter distilled her claims in only a few words: "I just want
some money from this guy."

Her late husband, a widower with a penchant for strippers, showered Smith
with gifts including two homes, jewelry and clothes.

In addition, she contends that he promised her half his estate.

G. Eric Brunstad Jr., the lawyer for the son, said that a Texas court
investigated her claims during a five-month trial and rejected them. He said
that Smith had no grounds to bring a separate claim in federal court in
California.

He faced tough comments from the justices who seemed hesitant to limit the
federal courts' reach.

"That's just not the way our system works," said Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg.

"I don't see your logic," Souter told Brunstad.

The case requires the court to clarify when federal courts may hear claims
that involve state probate proceedings.

About two dozen photographers swarmed Smith and her attorney as they left
through a side door of the court building after the hearing then sped away
in a black SUV. 

She declined to answer questions.

Earlier, when she arrived, several photographers were knocked to the ground
in their zeal to get a picture of Smith.

Smith was awarded $474 million by a federal bankruptcy judge. That was later
reduced by a federal district judge and then thrown out altogether by a
federal appeals court on jurisdictional grounds.

Justices seemed ready to overturn the appeals court, although a Supreme
Court victory now would not guarantee that Smith would receive any money.

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Take care, Moscow.

Tom "and the voices" Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails." 
- Unknown