- A federal judge in New York dismissed a lawsuit hard the possession of a gown worn by Judy Garland when she played Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.
- The match experienced delayed The Catholic College of America’s planned auction of the gown for extra than a calendar year.
- The niece of the priest who had owned the gown has 10 times to existing an argument in opposition to lifting the injunction that has blocked the auction.
This “Wizard of Oz” dress could be off to see the auction household extremely soon.
A federal choose in New York on Monday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the possession of a costume worn by Judy Garland when she played Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” which for much more than a year had held up a prepared auction of the storied garment by The Catholic College of The us.
Choose Paul Gardephe gave the plaintiff, Barbara Hartke, 10 times to current an argument as to why he must not elevate an injunction that has blocked the auction since mid-2022.
In his ruling, Gardephe wrote that Barbara Hartke experienced failed to set up that she had legal standing to assert an ownership proper in the “Oz” dress, which previously was owned by the Wisconsin woman’s uncle, the late Rev. Gilbert Hartke, a longtime professor at Catholic University. The college, situated in Washington, D.C., claims it is the owner of the gown.
Anthony Scordo III, Barbara Hartke’s lawyer, informed CNBC on Monday that he hopes to quickly have her appointed as an executor of her uncle’s estate, which could allow for her to renew her authorized declare to the dress’s possession.
“We’re not out of the box nonetheless,” claimed Scordo.
He also options to argue to the choose that it would be “untimely to carry the injunction” blocking the auction when Barbara nonetheless might have grounds to contest the possession.
In a assertion, Catholic College said that it “is pretty inspired and happy that the motion to dismiss was granted and seems to be forward to reaching finality in this scenario in the coming weeks.”
Gilbert Hartke, who experienced served as chairman of the university’s drama office, been given the blue and white costume from the Oscar-profitable actress Mercedes McCambridge, who was a close friend of Garland’s. The costume is considered to be just one of 6 worn by Garland in the 1939 movie. Garland died in 1969 McCambridge in 2004.
Immediately after Father Hartke died in 1986, the dress was lacking for a long time, but then was observed in 2021 in a trash bag earlier mentioned school mail slots throughout a renovation of the Hartke Theater at the college.
Catholic University contracted with the Bonhams auction home in March 2022 to offer the dress in New York. The gown was envisioned to fetch in between $800,000 to $1.2 million at auction.
But that sale was place on maintain when Barbara Hartke sued each the college and Bonhams in Manhattan federal courtroom previous 12 months.
Gardephe’s ruling Monday dismissing her declare famous that Father Hartke experienced taken a vow of poverty when he grew to become a priest of the Dominican buy in 1933. In that vow, Hartke renounced his possession of “temporal merchandise,” and agreed to change about his income to the Faculty of the Immaculate Conception.
The judge wrote that Barbara Hartke’s lawsuit, which asserts that the costume belongs to her uncle’s estate, failed to plead points demonstrating that she is a “real aspect of fascination.”
The ruling also notes that there is absolutely nothing in the court file to demonstrate that she has been appointed a personal representative of her uncle’s estate regardless of her owning petitioned the D.C. Probate Court for that function.
As a consequence, “she lacks standing to provide this motion,” Gardephe wrote.
The decide left the doorway open up for Barbara Hartke to amend her lawsuit to make one more argument for legal standing. But Gardephe observed that “it seems uncertain” that this kind of a claim would triumph.
Barbara Hartke’s lawyer Scordo explained to CNBC that gained the circumstance documents for her uncle’s estate from Probate Courtroom only in October, prolonged following they ended up requested, and that there has been no ruling however on her application to be appointed private representative for the estate.
