Court refuses to reverse Nicole Smith ruling

A US federal appeals court panel rejected a bid by the late Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyers to reconsider its ruling that gave her none of the fortune from her late billionaire husband.

A Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel ruled it would not rehear the case. It also denied a request for a hearing before all members of the San Francisco-based court.

The appellate court ruled in March that a Houston jury was correct when it said J. Howard Marshall was mentally fit and under no undue pressure when he wrote a will leaving nearly all of his $1.6bn estate to his son, E. Pierce Marshall.

Lawyers for Smith’s estate said they would appeal to the US Supreme Court.