Bit Parts

The Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, Division Two, decided in an unpublished opinion that a Marin County court had jurisdiction to rule that Grateful Dead Productions (GDP), rather than the estate of group member Jerry Garcia, owned a particular guitar at the time of Garcia's death. Irwin v. Grateful Dead Productions Inc., A099413. Guitar-maker Doug Irwin had filed a petition under Probate Code Sec. 9860 to order GDP to turn several Irwin-made, Garcia-played guitars over to Garcia's estate. Irwin, GDP and Garcia's co-executors entered into a stipulation over the disposition of all the guitars, except one named “Tiger.” Irwin later withdrew his probate petition at a hearing over the right to “Tiger.” (The underlying issue was whether Garcia's estate was responsible for tax liabilities on the guitar.) But the court proceeded to rule that “Tiger” belonged to GDP. After ruling that Garcia's widow and co-executor, Deborah Koons Garcia, was a proper party to the lower court proceedings (an issue Irwin had contested), the court of appeal affirmed on the guitar-ownership issue, noting, “By virtue of the stipulation, [Irwin] was able to obtain possession of the Tiger guitar and sell it for a large sum of money. GDP and the co-executors agreed to have him receive possession of the guitar on the promise that the issue of ownership of the guitar at the time of Garcia's death would be determined by the court. Irwin could not simply avoid this aspect of the stipulation by dismissing his petition.”

Put Deal Not Subordinate