Judge Denies Request to Speed Sumner Redstone's Competence Assessment
November 30 2015 - 10:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Keach Hagey
A California judge on Monday denied a request by Sumner
Redstone's ex-girlfriend to accelerate the legal process to
determine whether the media mogul is mentally competent to make his
own health-care decisions, according to court documents.
Manuela Herzer, who was once romantically involved with Mr.
Redstone, filed court papers last week saying the 92-year-old
chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp.
lacked the mental capacity to make his own health-care decisions
when he threw her out of his house in mid-October and removed her
as his health-care agent in the event he became incompetent.
In addition to asking the court to assess his mental capacity
and reverse the decision to replace her with Viacom Chief Executive
Philippe Dauman as Mr. Redstone's health-care agent, Ms. Herzer's
lawyers asked the court to expedite its proceedings. They cited Mr.
Redstone's declining health and argued there was a "high
probability that critical health care decisions will need to be
made for him in the very near future."
On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Clifford Klein
rejected this argument for a fast-track procedure, setting a
hearing date for Jan. 27, according to court documents. Mr.
Redstone's motion to dismiss the petition will also be considered
on that day.
Mr. Redstone's health and mental competency have been a topic of
great interest to Viacom and CBS investors, given his roughly 80%
voting stake in each company.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2015 21:57 ET (02:57 GMT)
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