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Case Summary
DeWeerth v. Baldinger
DeWeerth v. Baldinger, 658 F. Supp. 688 (S.D.N.Y. 1987), rev’d, 836 F.2d 103 (2d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1056 (1988), remanded, 804 F. Supp. 539 (S.D.N.Y. 1992) (mem.) (granting relief from judgment), rev’d, 38 F.3d 1266 (2d Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1001 (1994).
Précis
The DeWeerth case, which took twelve years and two rounds in federal court to resolve, pitted a New York good faith purchaser of a Monet painting, “Champs de Blé à Vétheuil,” against a German citizen who claimed the work was stolen by American soldiers just after World War II. The federal court, where the case was brought, interpreting New York law, determined that the original owner had not exercised due or reasonable diligence in trying to locate her work and that the
statute of limitations
1) A law that bars claims after a specified period; specifically, a statute establishing a time limit for suing in a civil case, based on the date when the claim accrued (as when the injury occurred or was discovered). The purpose of such a statute is to require diligent prosecution of known claims, thereby providing finality and predictability in legal affairs and ensuring that claims will be resolved while evidence is reasonably available and fresh. 2) A statute establishing a time limit for prosecuting a crime, based on the date when the offense occurred (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
statute of limitations to claim it had
Associated Legal Decision(s)
Associated Statutes and/or Legislation
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