Judge Leonie Brinkema will hold a hearing tomorrow morning in Alexandria, Virginia on the Baltimore Museum of Art's motion for summary judgment to claim ownership to an 1879 Renoir painting Paysage Bords de Seine that the museum maintains was stolen in 1951. Claimant Martha Fuqua filed a motion to strike the BMA's reply to her opposition, arguing that the museum was introducing new evidence. The court swiftly denied the motion, and noted that the museum was responding to arguments she made for the first time in her opposition to the summary judgment motion (but gave her permission to file a sur-reply).
Coverage has reached as far away as Germany in Der Spiegel. Closer to home, the Baltimore Sun coverage has been extensive. Today's article by Mary McCauley quotes my analysis on the hearsay rule.
Trial is scheduled to begin next week on January 15, 204, so expect a decision quickly one way or another, either denying the motion or indicating that the motion will be allowed s(perhaps ubject to a fuller written opinion later).
