The Margulies

 

Communications Group

For additional information contact:

David Margulies (214) 368-0909

(800) 710-5292

 

 

A Statement from E. Pierce Marshall
March 7, 2002

 

            My father would be pleased the California Federal District Court reduced the egregious and flippant $475 million award of the Bankruptcy Court by more than $387 million.  We believe that the Houston Probate Court, which awarded Smith nothing, has jurisdiction in this case.  We will continue to fight to enforce my father’s estate plan and expect to prevail on appeal.

            It is unfortunate that the District Court continued to ignore J. Howard Marshall II’s clearly stated wishes set out in a series of six wills and seven trusts signed over the last 13 years of is life.  Anyone who has written a will or placed their assets in a trust believing that they control the disposition of their property should be outraged by this opinion and hope we prevail in our appeal.  Otherwise, such documents will be worthless in today’s legal system.

 

            Few estate plans, and the intent behind these plans, were as well documented as my father’s who was both a lawyer and a former law professor.  What possible agenda could the Court be pursuing which justifies overturning my father’s estate plan based on the unsupported verbal assertions of Anna Nicole Smith?

 

·        Smith could not present any evidence that my father made any specific promise to her that was not kept;

 

·        Although her claim in this case was for an inter vivos (during life) gift, Smith made no claim in any court that she had been promised anything additional from my father until 10 months after his death;

 

·        Smith could not present a single witness to support her claim that I ever interfered with any expectancy she had from my father;

 

·        Smith could not show anything that I did to prevent her from receiving an expectancy;

 

·        Smith could not show that I knew anything about expectancy.  How could I interfere with a gift I knew nothing about?

 

It was her word vs. the live testimony of three respected attorneys who represented my father for 13 years and more than 2 million pages of supporting documents.  What influence other than the facts and the law are at work here?

 

During this case, we were forced to turn over documents protected by the attorney/client privilege to Smith’s lawyers, a possible violation of Due Process rights.  Even so, after six years of litigation Smith has still not been able to produce a single document confirming that my father promised or was ever prevented from giving her the more than $6.7 million she received.

 

As well, the Court’s decision to restrict the testimony to five witnesses vs. the 27 who testified in the Texas Probate trial put us at a great disadvantage.  The witnesses who were not heard from in California previously testified in Texas about the deteriorating relationship between my father and Smith during their brief marriage.  During that time, my father recognized that Anna Nicole would never be a partner or a companion and that she would blow every cent he gave her.  He told confidants that the marriage had been a mistake.

 

We are pleased that Smith’s cruel treatment of my father, as well as her antics on the witness stand in Texas and California, are now part of the public record.  Smith did not show up to see my father during the last month of his life, and my father refused to take her phone call the day before he died.  It is ironic that Smith’s uncontrolled spending and the financial recklessness that drove her into bankruptcy court gave her the opportunity to sue us twice over the same issue.  Today’s decision further rewards her irresponsible behavior.

 

I agree with the Court that there are numerous issues that can be taken up on appeal. We will pursue each of these issues through the appeals process to the highest level necessary.  By appealing today’s decision, we will continue to fight attempts by Anna Nicole Smith and her bevy of contingency-fee lawyers to loot my father’s estate.  I will continue to honor my father’s request that I carry out his well-documented estate plan.     

 

For additional background on this case please check our web site factweb.net