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Appeal filed in Tom Benson competency case

A judge in New Orleans ruled last week that Saints owner Tom Benson is mentally fit to manage his affairs, which means that there was no need to rescind his decision to change his will to make his current wife Gayle his heir rather than his daughter and grandchildren.

Benson never took the stand during the trial leading up to that decision and that’s one of the reasons why the losing side says they are appealing the verdict. Randall A. Smith, the attorney for Renee Benson and her children, issued a statement about the appeal on Wednesday.

“Although we have the utmost respect for the Court, the refusal of Tom Benson’s counsel to allow Tom Benson to take the witness stand further evidences Tom Benson’s diminished capacity and serves to suppress the truth,” Smith said, via the Associated Press.