NY socialite heir guilty of theft 纽约名流后人犯偷窃罪_社会生活

NY socialite heir guilty of theft 纽约名流后人犯偷窃罪

文章来源：未知文章作者：meng 发布时间：2009-10-09 00:42 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

A New York court has convicted the 85-year-old son of late US socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor of looting his mother's estate in her final years.

纽约一座法庭判处现年已85岁的美国近期社会名流、慈善家Brooke Astor的儿子在其母亲晚年非法掠夺其财产。

Marshall said his mother willingly gave him the money he inherited

Anthony Marshall was found to have given himself an unauthorised pay rise of $1m for managing her finances.

Prosecutors¹ had argued that there was no way his mother could have consented to（赞成） the payment because she had advanced Alzheimer's disease at the time.

Brooke Astor left a fortune put at $180m (£112m) when she died in 2007.

Marshall, her only son, faces a mandatory²（命令的，强制性的） jail sentence of between one and 25 years.

The jury also convicted one of the lawyers for Mrs Astor's estate, Francis X Morrissey Jr, on forgery³ charges.

'Stunned⁴'

After a five-month trial - including more than 19 weeks of testimony⁵（证言，证据） and 12 days of deliberations（考虑，细想） - the jury at the State Supreme⁶ Court in Manhattan found Marshall guilty of first-degree grand larceny⁷（大盗窃罪）, scheming to defraud⁸（欺骗） and 12 other counts. It acquitted⁹（开释，释放） him of two other charges.

In his closing statement, Assistant District Attorney Joel J Seidemann asked jurors to hold Mr Marshall "accountable for stealing from and defrauding¹⁰ a great philanthropist（博爱的人，慈善家）, a great New Yorker and human being in the sunset of her life".

Marshall's lawyer, Frederick Hafetz said he was "stunned（震惊） by the verdict".

"We are greatly disappointed in it and we will definitely appeal（恳求，上诉）," he added.

The two men will remain free on bail¹¹ until they are sentenced on 8 December.

During the trial, prosecutors had portrayed¹² Marshall as greedy and said he had exploited his mother's declining mental state（精神状态，心理状态） to secure for himself millions of dollars of inheritance（遗产，遗传） that were intended to go to charity.

High-profile witnesses

Marshall's lawyers had said his mother was lucid¹³（头脑清楚的，清晰的） when she willingly bequeathed（遗赠，遗留） him the riches he inherited from her fortune.

But the prosecution¹⁴ argued that Mrs Astor's Alzheimer's had advanced so far when she amended¹⁵ her will and made other financial decisions that benefited her son that there was no way she could have consented（同意，承诺）.

The jury heard from high-profile witnesses including Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters and Annette de la Renta, among others.

Brooke Astor, who died at the age of 105, played a prominent（杰出的，显著的） role in New York's social life and gave millions to institutions such as the New York Public Library and the Carnegie Hall.

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收听单词发音

1 prosecutors
检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )；告发人；起诉人；公诉人
参考例句：
In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。来自口语例句 You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 mandatory
adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者
参考例句：
It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。 There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

3 forgery
n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）
参考例句：
The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。 He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

4 stunned
adj. 震惊的，惊讶的动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。 The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

5 testimony
n.证词；见证，证明
参考例句：
The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。 He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 supreme
adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的
参考例句：
It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。 He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 larceny
n.盗窃（罪）
参考例句：
The man was put in jail for grand larceny.人因重大盗窃案而被监禁。 It was an essential of the common law crime of larceny.它是构成普通法中的盗窃罪的必要条件。

8 defraud
vt.欺骗，欺诈
参考例句：
He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。 He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

9 acquitted
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )；使（自己）作出某种表现
参考例句：
The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。 Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

10 defrauding
v.诈取，骗取( defraud的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Second is the actor regards defrauding of the wealth as object. 第二，行为人以骗取钱财为目的。来自互联网 Therefore, DELL has the motive and economic purpose of intentionally defrauding the Chinese consumers. 因此，戴尔公司存在故意欺诈中国消费者的动机和经济目的。来自互联网

11 bail
v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人
参考例句：
One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。 She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

12 portrayed
v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画
参考例句：
Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。 The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 lucid
adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的
参考例句：
His explanation was lucid and to the point.他的解释扼要易懂。 He wasn't very lucid,he didn't quite know where he was.他神志不是很清醒，不太知道自己在哪里。

14 prosecution
n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营
参考例句：
The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。 He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

15 Amended
adj. 修正的动词amend的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。 He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

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