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But after a contemporary of his father's said he felt he was being cheated by Salander, De Niro began asking questions
-- "gingerly," he said. Then he discovered that Salander had signed over ownership of some of his father's work to a gallery in Venice, Italy, without his permission, a move prosecutors say Salander made in 2006 to satisfy his own heavy debt to the gallery. When asked about relinquishing the paintings, "He said, `Oh, that's nonsense,' da-da-da, da-da-da," the actor said. "I felt he was either delusional
-- deluding himself -- or not being honest, and I just didn't have time for it." After cutting ties with the gallery in late 2007 or so, he learned the estate hadn't been paid its portion of any sales after 2001, he said. Morse and another gallery employee tried to woo the estate's business back, but "I wanted to make a clean break from all the bad stuff," the actor said. Easygoing and forthcoming with his testimony -- to the point of being asked at times to wait for a question to end before replying
-- the "Raging Bull" and "Analyze This" actor gave the court a wry glimpse of his often flinty characters when one of Morse's lawyers asked a somewhat convoluted and hypothetical question about his opinion of a certain financial practice of the gallery. "I don't know where you're going, sir," De Niro said to a laugh from the courtroom audience. Morse's lawyers say the crimes were Salander's, not hers. The top charge against Morse carries the possibility of up to seven years in prison if she is convicted. Salander, 61, is serving six to 18 years in prison.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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