High Court Victory For Anna Nicole

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that one-time stripper and Playboy magazine Playmate Anna Nicole Smith could pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune.

Justices gave new legal impetus to Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. Her late husband's estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.

Smith has been embroiled in a long-running cross country court fight with Marshall's youngest son, E. Pierce Marshall. The court's decision, which was unanimous, means that it will not end anytime soon.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court, said Smith should have a fresh chance to pursue claims in federal court.

"This is a victory for the federal courts over state courts more than it is a victory for Smith," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "The ruling does give her an opportunity to vindicate her rights — but it doesn't guarantee that victory. What it does guarantee is that the federal courts can sometimes get involved in probate cases like this."

But Smith's case had brought unusual drama to the normally sedate high court.

Dressed in all black, the former stripper wept in the courtroom in late February as justices discussed Marshall and whether he had intended to provide for her in death. When she arrived at the court, several photographers were knocked to the ground in a scuffle to photograph her.

She was a 26-year-old topless dancer when she married Marshall, then 89, in 1994. He died the following year at age 90, setting off an intense family fight.

In Smith's fight for Marshall's money, two courts collided. A Texas state court awarded her nothing, but a California Federal Court gave her $88 million. The Marshall family, which won the Texas case, argued that the feds should butt out, CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reported in February.

Smith, the spokeswoman for a diet products company, had been awarded $474 million by a federal bankruptcy judge. That was later reduced by a federal district judge and then thrown out altogether by the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit. The case now goes back to California.

And it's unlikely to end anytime soon, CBS Radio News' Barry Bagnato reports. Often, after a decision such as this, settlement talks begin. But Marshall's son is stubbornly opposed to Smith's claim and he's expected to keep fighting her for years.

"I will continue to fight to uphold my father's estate plan and clear my name," Pierce Marshall said Monday.

Justices said Monday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California was wrong in ruling that federal courts could not handle Smith's case.

"I am positive that the justices were far more interested in the nuances of competing jurisdiction than they were in Smith's background or appearance," Cohen said.

"And if she were not the one bringing this case no one would have heard about it — the Supreme Court resolves dozens of dense, technical cases like this each term without getting much attention to them."

But this is one nuanced case that attracted the national spotlight.

Smith may never rise to the top of Hollywood, but she'll forever be a star in law schools now, Bagnato reports, because the decision she brought to the high court denies states the right to shut federal courts out of many estate disputes.

So far, Smith has received nothing from Marshall's estate, although before his death Marshall showered Smith with $6.6 million in gifts that included two homes, expensive jewelry and clothes. She contends that he also promised her half his estate.

Ginsburg's opinion included only a hint of the nastiness of the family feud. She said there were accusations that Pierce Marshall "engaged in forgery, fraud, and overreaching to gain control of his father's assets" and, on the other side, that Smith had defamed her former stepson.

"I will continue to fight to clear my name in California federal court. That is a promise that (Smith) and her lawyers can take to the bank."

The case is Marshall v. Marshall, 04-1544.