Anthony Marshall, a former CIA officer and ambassador, is on trial for fraud, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and assorted other offenses. In a New York courtroom, a trial has been playing out this spring that makes the plots of preposterous TV melodramas look understated by comparison. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. NORRIS: Meryl, thank you very much for being with us again.Ĭopyright © 2009 NPR. Her grandson, Philip Marshall, who got this entire legal situation rolling, likes to comfort himself by saying that essentially his grandmother has new meaning after her death, you know, as an advocate against elder abuse, and he hopes that her legacy will be powerful in that way.

GORDON: So I think this is something that would make her very, very sad. NORRIS: I think the judge may have asked the most interesting question during the proceedings: What would she say if she were here? He has not spoken in court the entire time. I wonder if he would say something about loving his mother. GORDON: Yeah, I wondered if there would be some sign of contrition. NORRIS: So you were expecting maybe to hear from him, and he basically just said the lawyers speak for me. He stood up kind of frailly and he seemed to want to say something, and then he simply said: I stand by what my lawyers said. GORDON: We were all on the edge of our seats. NORRIS: And he said little for himself in court. GORDON: I don't think it had any impact on the judge because just because he had had a distinguished career somewhat earlier in his life doesn't justify the behavior that began, you know, at the end of the 1990s, early 2000. In the end, it sounds like this may not have had much of an impact on the judge. They filed an elaborate brief asking for leniency. Marshall's defense lawyers gave a very long summary of his life story. But, alas, he was not allowed to do that by law.

I have been in this court for five months now, and I've really never seen the judge so furious as he really talked about what he would've liked to have done, he said, was take all of Brooke Astor's money that she had left her son and give it to all of her charities. GORDON: Justice Bartley was very, very angry. And he appears to be in very frail health. NORRIS: Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor's son, was sentenced to one to three years, as we just said, which is far less than the 25 years he could've received, as I understand, under New York law. Meryl Gordon has been covering the case for Vanity Fair, and she joins us now from our studios in New York City.

Mrs astor regrets by meryl gordon