Judge dismisses Katherine Harris lawsuit
Ongoing battle over grandfather's estate
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Rep. Katherine Harris
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BARTOW, Florida (AP) -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Rep. Katherine Harris and two siblings in an ongoing battle with fellow heirs about how to divide her grandfather's multimillion-dollar estate.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled Monday that the federal court lacked jurisdiction because a state court already decided that no fraud occurred in the March 2002 settlement of the estate of citrus and cattle baron Ben Hill Griffin Jr.
In the 2001 suit, Harris, Fran Harris King and George Harris III accused their first cousin, state Sen. J.D. Alexander, his father, John Alexander, and their uncle, Ben Hill Griffin III, of inflating stock values, among other things.
Paul Lipton, who represented the Harris siblings, said they hadn't decided whether to appeal the federal ruling or raise their allegations in a state court, he said.
A message left with Katherine Harris' office seeking comment was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The Republican congresswoman gained fame when she was Florida's secretary of state during the 2000 presidential election recount. She was elected to Congress last November.
Griffin III stopped short of calling the court ruling a victory.
"There doesn't seem to be any victories in this situation," he said.
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