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John Hollenhorst ReportingA battle that's ebbed and flowed for 30 years is back in court. Did billionaire Howard Hughes leave Utah gas station attendant Melvin Dummar part of his fortune when he died?
It was not a good day for Melvin Dummar because the judge seemed to think he doesn't have jurisdiction in the case. Utah gas station attendent Melvin Dummar has claimed for 30 years that he's entitled to one-sixteenth of the Hughes estate. He claims he found Hughes injured and bleeding in the desert and gave him a ride to Las Vegas.
A handwritten will naming Dummar was declared a hoax. Now Dummar has filed suit, claiming that jury was influenced by a fraud perpetrated on the court. An attorney representing Hughes' cousin is fighting back.
Melvin Dummar, Plaintiff: "It means a great deal to get justice, and I hope we get justice, but I don't know."
Randy Dryer, Plaintiff: "He's got this theory, this story that really is not factually based, that's already been rejected twice before, once by a Nevada jury and once in Texas, and now he wants a third bite of the apple."
Judge Bruce Jenkins has not ruled in the case yet. He says he wants to think about it. He's clearly troubled by this jurisdictional issue. He may not even rule on the substance of it; he may rule that the case has to be filed in Las Vegas if it's going to be filed at all.
