New Documents Filed In Fight Over Prince's Estate; Search Warrant Sealed
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A judge has approved the Carver County sheriff's request to seal the search warrant and any accompanying documents surrounding investigations into the death of pop superstar Prince.
That means we won't know exactly what law enforcement was looking for when they searched Paisley Park after Prince was found dead a week ago Thursday.
Numerous reports suggest law enforcement did find prescription pain pills in their search.
On Thursday, we also saw evidence of how messy the legal battle over Prince's estate could get. In their motion to seal the search warrant, the Carver County Sheriff's Department cited intense media scrutiny and warned that making the documents public now could severely compromise the investigation.
The Sheriff's Department is also denying media reports that the DEA is involved.
Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud said "The DEA is not a part of this investigation, and for now he told us this is not a criminal investigation," Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud said. "We are going to gather all of the information and all of the evidence and then review it with the county attorney to see if any laws were broken, but right now it's a death investigation."
New evidence Thursday also revealed how messy the settlement of Prince's estate could be. A California man named Rodney Dixon filed a claim against Prince's estate saying he was the rightful owner of all Prince's music. The filing included a newspaper article saying Dixon once sued Prince for $1 billion, claiming he and Prince had an oral agreement giving Dixon the music.
Estate lawyer Joel Mullen looked at the filing and said a verbal agreeemnt is unlikely to move forward.
There have been several other instances of celebrities dying without wills, like Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia. There were many claims against their estates, as well. Mullen believes that will happen with Prince, and that the settlement of his estate will be a lengthy and expensive process.
"It could take very many years, and it could cost a lot of money," Mullen said.
Also today the Carver County Sheriff's department released documents showing there were 47 calls for service to Paisley Park in the last five years and six of them were after Prince's death -- not a lot when you consider Prince regularly threw dance parties for hundreds of fans.
In a news conference last week, the Carver County Sheriff's department said none of the calls in the last year involved Prince himself except for the one last Thursday.
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