Judge bars testimony from Astor secretary

NEW YORK, May 13 (UPI) -- Former New York socialite Brooke Astor's secretary won't get to tell a jury potentially damaging second-hand testimony about Astor's son, a judge ruled.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that social secretary Birgit Darby was set to testify that Astor's daughter-in-law, Charlene Marshall, said during a phone conversation that "if he (Astor's son) dies before she (Astor) dies, I get nothing."

The newspaper said the judge presiding over the trial of Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, ruled that the prosecution could not elicit the testimony from the social secretary because it was irrelevant.

Marshall, 84, and Francis Morrissey Jr., a lawyer who did estate planning for Brooke Astor, face charges that they took advantage of her fragile mental state to change her will. Astor died in 2007 at age 105.

Prosecutor Joel Seidemann told the court that the secretary's testimony is critical.

"This is a case where the relationship between family members is paramount," he said.