SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court has reversed a judgment awarding 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith $88 million (46 million pounds) from the estate of her elderly billionaire husband J. Howard Marshall.
In 2002, a federal judge ruled that the dying 90-year-old truly loved his then 26-year-old wife when he awarded her $88 million in a bitter court fight with the oil tycoon's son. The judge ruled that the son had tried to rob Smith of her rightful inheritance by mounting a campaign of deceit and dishonesty.
But on Thursday a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, reversed that decision, saying she was not mentioned in his trust and will, although she was given about $6 million in gifts in 1994.
"Although J. Howard Marshall II was married to Vickie Lynn Marshall, no provision for distributions of income or principal of the trust estate was made in favour of the settler's spouse," Judge Robert Beezer wrote.
He referred to Smith's birth name Vickie Lynn.
In 2001, a U.S. district judge threw out a $475 million judgment for Smith awarded the year before.
"The route followed by the parties to this appeal on their epic journey is a tortured one indeed," Beezer wrote in summing up the complex past legal proceedings.
In an earlier trial, one lawyer accused Smith of using the lure of her breasts to coax her aging oil tycoon husband to say whatever she wanted.
The billionaire met and married Smith, a topless dancer who was to eventually host her own reality television show, at a topless club just 14 months before his death in 1995.
In 2002, a federal judge ruled that the dying 90-year-old truly loved his then 26-year-old wife when he awarded her $88 million in a bitter court fight with the oil tycoon's son. The judge ruled that the son had tried to rob Smith of her rightful inheritance by mounting a campaign of deceit and dishonesty.
But on Thursday a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, reversed that decision, saying she was not mentioned in his trust and will, although she was given about $6 million in gifts in 1994.
"Although J. Howard Marshall II was married to Vickie Lynn Marshall, no provision for distributions of income or principal of the trust estate was made in favour of the settler's spouse," Judge Robert Beezer wrote.
He referred to Smith's birth name Vickie Lynn.
In 2001, a U.S. district judge threw out a $475 million judgment for Smith awarded the year before.
"The route followed by the parties to this appeal on their epic journey is a tortured one indeed," Beezer wrote in summing up the complex past legal proceedings.
In an earlier trial, one lawyer accused Smith of using the lure of her breasts to coax her aging oil tycoon husband to say whatever she wanted.
The billionaire met and married Smith, a topless dancer who was to eventually host her own reality television show, at a topless club just 14 months before his death in 1995.
