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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Dazed Astor Didn't Recognize Jesse Jackson: Witness

Her son also convinced her she was going broke

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(Newser) – A decade before her death, Brooke Astor was so out of it that she couldn’t recognize Jesse Jackson, a prosecution witness testified today in the fraud trial against Astor’s son, the New York Daily News reports. Anthony Marshall’s defense rides on his mother’s mental state, with the prosecution charging that he took advantage of her deteriorated state to raid family coffers.

“She realized Jackson was a distinguished person,” the witness recalled of Astor, then 95. “But she couldn’t remember why she asked him there.” Impaired by Alzheimer’s, Astor would blurt random things—like “I’ve never had a facelift”—in the years before she died at 105, the witness adds. Meanwhile, her son tried to convince her that she was running short of cash.

Anthony Marshall arrives at State Supreme court with his wife Charlene today in New York.
Anthony Marshall arrives at State Supreme court with his wife Charlene today in New York.   (AP Photo)
The 84-year-old Anthony Marshall is being tried on charges of stealing from his mother, the late Brooke Astor.
The 84-year-old Anthony Marshall is being tried on charges of stealing from his mother, the late Brooke Astor.   (AP Photo)
Brooke Astor is seen in this 1997 photo, around the time when a witness says she couldn't recognize Jesse Jackson after calling him to her office.
Brooke Astor is seen in this 1997 photo, around the time when a witness says she couldn't recognize Jesse Jackson after calling him to her office.   (AP Photo)
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RobN
Apr 29, 09 6:54 PM CDT
This doesn't show a diminishing mental state; just good taste. Reply
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Robert_Dada
Apr 29, 09 7:24 PM CDT
She sounds like Reagan during the last years of his presidency. Reply
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fraud • Jesse Jackson • crime • New York • Manhattan • theft • will • charity • inheritance • Brooke Astor • Anthony Marshall

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