Jurors Ask to Rehear Testimony on Astor Estate in Maine

By John Eligon

In their two and a half days of deliberations, the jurors deciding the fates of Brooke Astor’s son and a lawyer who worked on her estate have given some insight into their thinking through what they have requested from and asked of the judge.

On Thursday, the jury asked to hear the parts of the testimony of Mrs. Astor’s accountant, Stephen Cohen, and one of her doctors, Rees Pritchett, that related to Cove End, her summer retreat in Northeast Harbor, Me. Mrs. Astor gave that property to her son, Anthony D. Marshall.

Mr. Marshall and the estate lawyer, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., are accused of steering millions of Mrs. Astor’s fortune their way by taking advantage of her declining mental faculties. The fifth of the 18 counts the jury is considering charges Mr. Marshall with grand larceny for using more than $600,000 of his mother’s money to maintain Cove End after she gave it to him.

In the portion of his testimony that was read back, Mr. Cohen said he found it unusual that Mrs. Astor was still paying for expenses on the property when she no longer owned it. Mr. Cohen testified that Mr. Marshall told him Mrs. Astor was still using the Maine home.

But Dr. Pritchett testified that Mr. Marshall told him it was difficult for Mrs. Astor to get around the home because of its stairs. Dr. Pritchett told Mr. Marshall that “it didn’t seem practical or prudent” for Mrs. Astor to continue to go to Cove End, he testified.

The jury also asked the judge, Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr. of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, on Thursday whether a durable power of attorney supersedes a will. Justice Bartley asked the jurors to clarify the question, and they withdrew it.

The question seemed to relate to the sixth and seventh counts, which charge Mr. Marshall with grand larceny for taking a drawing by Tiepolo from his mother’s Park Avenue apartment. Mrs. Astor did sign over a power of attorney to her son. The drawing was not explicitly left to Mr. Marshall in Mrs. Astor’s will, but power of attorney, the defense has argued, allowed him to take the drawing as a gift. Mrs. Astor was 105 when she died in 2007.

The jurors’ questions and requests seemed to indicate that they are working their way down the list of charges.

On Wednesday, they asked for clarification on the third charge, which accuses Mr. Marshall of falsifying business records by telling Mr. Cohen that $757,000 spent by his mother was a personal expense, though prosecutors say it was actually a gift. The jurors wanted to know whether Mr. Marshall had to have had the intent to falsify the entry at the time it was made in order to be found guilty. Justice Bartley told them such intent was necessary.

Mathew R. Warren contributed reporting.

This article "Jurors Ask to Rehear Testimony on Astor Estate in Maine" originally appeared at The New York Times.