The late Anna Nicole Smith leaves the US Supreme Court in Washington in this 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest stop in the 15-year legal battle over the $US1.6 billion estate that oil magnate J. Howard Marshall left after his 1995 death at age 90. Smith had married Marshall the previous year.
The appeals court ruled Friday that a Texas jury's 2001 verdict should be honored because it had heard from all parties during the five-month trial. The jury ruled in favor of Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall.
The appeals court says subsequent federal court decisions that granted Smith various parts of Marshall's fortune should be ignored.
