Late Marvel legend Stan Lee’s former manager Keya Morgan, who was accused of stealing just over $200,000 from his former employer’s estate, has had the accusations against him dismissed by a judge, according to Variety.
The jurors were divided 11-1 in favor of acquitting Morgan, and Judge George Lomeli stepped in and declared a mistrial. He excused the jury and dismissed the case, saying that he did so “in the interests of justice.” Morgan was also accused of elder abuse towards the end of Lee’s life, though as Variety reports, those “charges of elder abuse and false imprisonment were dismissed before the trial.”
Alex Kessel, Morgan’s defense lawyer, stated that “the defense showed somebody else beside my client got the cash… I think the judge made the right call so my client can go on with his life.” As the trade notes, J. C. Lee—Stan Lee’s daughter, who has had her own legal issues regarding her father’s estate—was called by Kessel to testify in this trial as part of the defense’s argument that “J.C. got the money,” not Morgan.
The battles over Stan Lee’s estate, money, and intellectual property—which began even before the comics titan’s death in 2018—have been fraught and deeply sad to watch from the sidelines; hopefully, as the legal issues get resolved, his lasting pop culture legacy will be what people talk about instead.
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