Astor Case Jury Selection a Quiz Show

The trial of Brooke Astor’s son is becoming something of a circus—and it hasn't even started. In the courtroom, Anthony Marshall's lawyers are using a lengthy questionnaire to screen potential jurors who will determine whether he exploited his socialite mother's deteriorating mental and physical condition, the New York Times reports. Do they have wills? How much do they intend to leave to charity? To their children? How do they feel about the wealthy?

Outside Manhattan Criminal Court, hecklers are taunting Marshall, 84, reports the New York Post. "Hey, that was his mother's money! That was his mother's money!" one bystander called out yesterday. A defense lawyer said later, "You can't judge jurors by what you hear on the street"—but only about 200 of the 1,000 would-be jurors who have appeared so far have reached the questionnaire-answering stage.
(More Brooke Astor stories.)