Judge Refuses to Approve Settlement in Duke Case

NEW YORK —  Declaring she will not be stampeded, a Surrogate’s Court judge on Tuesday refused to approve a settlement that would end the 2 1/2-year fight over the will of tobacco heiress Doris Duke and send the vast majority of her $1.2-billion estate to charity.

After a sometimes bitter three-hour hearing, lawyers agreed to return to the bargaining table to try to meet conditions set by Judge Eve M. Preminger--including expansion of the board of the Doris Duke foundation from six to 11 members and a guarantee that Duke’s controversial butler Bernard Lafferty can never serve on the board.

Lafferty, who was named executor of Duke’s estate in her last will, already has agreed to resign from that post in return for a $4.5-million payment, plus the $500,000 a year bequest provided in the heiress’ will.

“I think we are wasting everyone’s time here if this agreement is [merely] to give up having Mr. Lafferty as a trustee for one year,” Preminger angrily told lawyers as the former butler listened quietly in the courtroom.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lafferty’s chief challenger, Dr. Harry B. Demopoulos, who was named executor in an earlier Duke codicil, received what could be a highly lucrative seat on the foundation’s board. The agreement presented to the judge would have compensated trustees up to $300,000 a year. But by seeking to enlarge the board to 11 members, Preminger moved to cut the compensation trustees would receive.

Duke died on Oct. 28, 1993, in her gated home above Beverly Hills. The legal fight is being staged in Manhattan because her will was filed for probate in New York.