Judge's ruling puts Katy Perry one step closer to buying L.A. convent
Katy Perry has one the latest battle in her legal war against to nuns over the fate of a former convent in Los Angeles.
Perry originally made a deal with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to buy the palatial property in the Los Feliz neighborhood of L.A. for $14.5 million, but the remaining elderly nuns living on the property -- believing it was theirs to sell, not the archdiocese's -- made a conflicting deal with a local businesswoman to turn it into a restaurant and boutique hotel for $15.5 million.
But on Wednesday, a Los Angeles judge announced her intention to block the nuns' efforts, marking a small victory of Perry on her path toward closing the deal to turn the convent into her new home.
"We won the real property issues," Perry's attorney, Eric Rowen, said in a statement.
His sentiments were echoed by J. Michael Hennigan, a lawyer representing the archdiocese. "We're obviously pleased," he said, according to the L.A. Times. The archdiocese has long maintained that the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are unauthorized to sell the property, as it falls under the church's jurisdiction.
The nuns' attorney, John Scholnick, indicated they are considering an appeal of Wednesday's decision. "As far as I'm concerned," Scholnick said, "it's still game on."