In closing arguments yesterday, the attorney for Anthony D. Marshall told the jury to keep its “eye on the ball,” then moved quickly to the “centerpiece” of the case and said there is “not a scintilla of direct evidence” that Brooke Astor was not competent when she changed her will making her son, Mr. Marshall, the outright beneficiary of her $60 million residual estate.
With his lawyers having rested without putting on a case, Mr. Marshall’s defense hinges solely on the skill of Frederick P. Hafetz of Hafetz & Necheles in persuading the jury that the prosecution failed to carry its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Marshall looted $132 million from his mother’s estate.
