A visiting panel remanded part of the case back to the trial court
by: Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A panel of visiting judges in the 7th
District Court of Appeals this week partially ruled in favor of an
appeal filed by former Mahoning County Court Judge Diane Vettori.
In an opinion issued Thursday, the visiting judges ordered that a
ruling ordering Vettori to pay over $12,000 in interest in an estate
case that Vettori’s lawyers claimed was a “prejudgment” order be vacated
but ruled against her claim that the judge in her probate case was not
impartial.
Vettori served as a judge in area court in Sebring from 2002 until
the time the charges were filed against her, when she was suspended. She
has since lost her law license.
In a separate case in Mahoning County Probate Court, Vettori was
ordered to pay back over $185,000, including the over $12,000 interest.
Vettori’s lawyer John Juhasz asked that the interest be excluded,
saying that it was rewarded before a hearing was held by Visiting
Probate Judge Thomas Swift.
The visiting judges ruled that they could find no record of any
hearing held on the matter of interest and ordered that the issue be
remanded back to a trial court for further action.
As to Vettori’s claim that Judge Swift was not impartial, the
visiting judges ruled that they could find no evidence to back up that
claim and they dismissed it.
The judges who heard the appeal are W. Scott Gwin, Patricia Delaney and Craig R. Baldwin.
Vettori’s husband, former city police officer Ishmael Caraballo,
pleaded guilty for his role in the crime and was sentenced to probation.
A
judge approved a settlement between media mogul Sumner Redstone, shown
in 2011, and his former companion, Manuela Herzer, shown in 2013. Herzer
agreed to return $3.25 million, which Redstone had given her, and
relinquish claims she has over his estate. (Associated Press)
The
titanic battle over media mogul Sumner Redstone’s mental state ended
with a whimper in a nearly empty Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.
More
than three years after the mental acuity of the billionaire from Boston
was challenged by his former live-in companion — who filed a lawsuit
that exposed Redstone’s declining health and the tawdry inner workings
of his empire — a judge entered a decision that the Redstone family has
long sought.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David J.Cowan rebuffed Redstone’s legal antagonist, Manuela Herzer. Cowan signed off on a hard-fought settlement reached this month with the Redstone family.
Herzer promised to repay Redstone $3.25 million for some of the gifts
she had received over the years and also end a barrage of lawsuits.
Cowan
approved changes that were made to Redstone’s personal estate plan in
October 2015 and May 2016, memorializing how the 95-year-old media mogul
would like his personal assets divvied up after he is gone. And Cowan
also appointed a guardian ad litem (the same person who once looked
after pop star Britney Spears) to monitor Redstone’s affairs and care.
“This proceeding is now concluded,” Cowan said during the 15-minute hearing.
With
the ruling, which was expected, Cowan affirmed the Redstone family’s
position that the media mogul continues to understand what’s going on
around him. Cowan noted that in the fall of 2015, when the wrangling
began, “Redstone was on top of how much money he had,” even when a
doctor examining him seemed confused.
The
bulk of Redstone’s wealth is tied up in the family’s controlling stakes
in CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., but his personal property could be worth
as much as $150 million, according to court records.
His
15,355-square-foot Mediterranean mansion in Beverly Park remains one of
his primary assets. The home, with sweeping views of Beverly Hills and
the Los Angeles Basin, is next door to Sylvester Stallone’s.
Redstone
has been in declining health for several years. Since losing the
ability to speak, he has used an iPad with buttons for “yes” and “no” to
communicate. Because of that disability, Cowan in December ruled that Redstone was incapacitated.
However, Cowan stopped short of deeply delving into questions of Redstone’s current mental soundness.
The
famously combative executive has changed his original 2003 estate plan
dozens of times, drafting new amendments as family members, girlfriends
and others fell in and out of his favor.
The version approved Wednesday included the 40th and 41st amendments to the Sumner Murray Redstone Trust.
“Mr. Redstone had sufficient capacity to execute”the two amendments, Cowan wrote in his order.
With
so much wealth at stake, Redstone’s attorneys sought to have a judge
verify the most recent changes in the hopes of warding off potential
legal challenges in the years to come.
Herzer,
a former girlfriend who remained in Redstone’s orbit years after their
romance ended, was kicked out of the billionaire’s mansion in October
2015 and written out of his will. In the 40th amendment, Herzer was
expunged from his estate plan. The 41st amendment made housekeeping
changes.
Herzer’s attempt to restore her standing began with a lawsuit in November 2015 — a case that ultimately exposed Redstone’s failing health,
questions about his mental capacity and other tawdry secrets: female
escorts called to his mansion to entertain him, stock sales to generate
millions of dollars that he lavished on girlfriends, and how the
once-fearsome mogul was prone to crying spells.
Neither
Herzer nor her attorneys were in court Wednesday. Only two of
Redstone’s attorneys, and his new guardian, Samuel Ingham, were present.
“After
three years of litigation, Mr. Redstone is grateful for today’s court
confirmation of his capacity to execute his estate plan, and of his free
will in doing so,” one of his attorneys, Gabrielle Vidal of Loeb &
Loeb, said in a statement. “Now all he needs is a Patriots’ win.”
