BRIEF: Local judge overstepped authority in Lorenzen Wright estate case, appeals court says

By Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

March 28--There's a new twist in the battle over murdered NBA star Lorenzen Wright's estate, this one coming from an appeals court.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that a local judge overstepped his authority when he appointed a guardian to investigate spending by Wright's ex-wife, Sherra Robinson Wright.

The judge, Shelby County Probate Court Robert Benham, acted in October 2012 after discovering that Sherra Wright had spent most of the of $1 million in proceeds she received from an insurance policy on Lorenzen Wright's life.

Sherra Wright spent $973,000 of the funds -- including $32,000 for a Cadillac Escalade, $26,000 for a Lexus, $69,000 on an assortment of furniture, $11,750 for a trip to New York and $339,000 to buy and improve a new house -- within 10 months of receiving the money.

But a ruling Thursday by the appeals court says Benham "acted beyond the scope of (his) jurisdiction.''

"...We vacate the judgment of the Probate Court insofar as it directed the guardian ad litem to take actions,'' says the six-page ruling signed by appellate Judge David R. Farmer.

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