From Courier Journal, a story about a trial next week over some Brown family jewels. The trial is scheduled to begin on July 14, 2009 at 9:30 am in Jefferson Circuit Court, Div 13, with Judge Fred Cowan presiding. The civil action no. is 06-CI-005330. The case name is
BROWN, ROBINSON S JR ESTATE OF, , ET AL VS. AESTHETICS IN JEWELRY, INC. with the corporation being sued as well as James Jackson, individually.
The on-line story (and that in the paper edition) have more details. What is interesting is not only a story about a pending matter in just a few days, but that a jury will need to be selected in the midst of this pretrial publicity with commentary on the facts of the case, motivations, and experts which may or may not be admissible evidence.
I was going to ignore this story initially, but since the Courier Journal felt free enough to open it up and since this blog is geared for lawyers who will not be serving anyway, wellllll....
This story also presents an interesting issue outside of the courtroom for lawyers contacting the media (or vice versa) about proceedings to be resolved in a matter of days and the potential extra-judicial impact on the proceedings and the jurors. For example, note Woman claims her lawyers exaggerated diet-drug injuries which was posted on June 22 at the Courier Journal- the date of mediation (the story did grab some national attention at the ABA - Fen-Phen Counsel Exaggerated Heart Issue & Sexually Harassed, Client Says - and with UPI - Fen-phen law firm sex allegation trial set - UPI.com . Google could not locate a followup story on line at the Courier Journal (even though I recall reading it in the paper), but the Cincy Enquired did the following post on June 23 - Woman settles fen-phen lawsuit.
For what it is worth, the story was posted on line on Saturday July 11, but did not make the print edition until Monday July 13 which is one day before the trial.
Although the stories are what they are, one cannot help but wonder what was the path that resulted in the story becoming news?
Meanwhile, back to the Brown family and their jewels.
By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • July 11, 2009
. . .
The year after Jean McCauley Brown died in 2004, her husband, retired Brown-Forman Corp. chairman Robinson S. Brown Jr., saw a picture of a spectacular emerald and diamond necklace that Richard Burton once gave to his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor.
Brown asked Louisville jeweler Jim Jackson to make or find him one like it, saying he'd be willing to spend as much as $3 million.
. . .
Jackson found what Brown was looking for — a stunning necklace with 42 carats of emeralds and 300 diamonds — along with a pair of matching earrings. Jackson paid $500,000 for the set and sold it to Brown in March 2005 for $800,000.
When Brown died four months later, at age 88, his two sons immediately sought to sell the necklace and earrings.
But when they were offered hundreds of thousands less than their father had originally paid, they filed suit in Jefferson Circuit Court, accusing Jackson and his business, Aesthetics in Jewelry, of fraud.
In a case rife with allegations of greed and betrayal, Robinson S. Brown III and J. McCauley "Mac" Brown will ask a jury next week to rescind the sale or award damages equal to the difference between what their father paid and the jewels' fair-market value.
The younger Browns allege Jackson "tricked" him father into buying the jewels by claiming they were worth as much as $1.2 million.
. . .
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