Despite never living in Orange County, Moore has become quite familiar with downtown Santa Ana's Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse. For the past eight years, she has regularly hopped onto a flight in, then gone to the courthouse, rolling her briefcase past security and through the echoing marble foyer as she makes her way to courtroom 5B. But her motions are often either denied, filed improperly, or written less like a lawyer and more like a standup comedian. A few times, her written filings have compared Neilson's main troupe of underling attorneys on the case to various cartoon characters and cast members from The Wizard of Oz.

But her studied legalese and accounting is on point regarding a few facts about the case. Documents provided by Moore show that all the secured creditors in the Preston bankruptcy were paid off in 2006. As for much of the unsecured debt, a huge chunk goes all the way back to 1990. The statute of limitations for the IRS or the bankruptcy trustee to collect on debt is ten years. Plus, Albert was once represented by LBBS attorneys in a malpractice case when he was a lawyer. Despite the potential conflict of interest, the case was allowed to continue with Albert as the judge in the Preston case.

A more tangled aspect of the case involves Moore's former attorney, Bruce Fein (also a former U.S. deputy attorney general). While representing Moore, Fein says, he had a large amount of case documents stolen from his computer by his ex-wife, with whom he was going through a bitter divorce. The ex-wife, Mattie Lolavar, gave the documents to LBBS's Halperin and revealed information about Buma/Stemra over the phone. Court records show Halperin has tried to use those documents to compel the judge to force PMGI to hand over filings regarding the company's profits since Preston's death.

"[PMGI] and its trustee Joyce Moore, an individual, were and are continuing to interfere with the orderly handling of a bankruptcy estate by delaying proceedings and constantly attempting to have unknown access to property rightfully subject to the estate," the firm alleges.


Files related to the Edward Snowden case were also believed to be among the pile of documents Halperin accepted from Lolavar. Because of that, Fein lost the appointment to the Snowden trial, and he later recused himself from Moore's case. Since February 2014, Moore has continued as a "pro se" interested party without counsel. While she knows the facts of the case better than anyone, her overall lack of legal experience is apparent when filing motions or addressing the court.

"With all due respect, Mrs. Moore, the problem is you are not a lawyer, and you do not have background on how to do things procedurally," Albert declared in a recent hearing. "I'm not upset about that, but hopefully, explaining things to you a third time, you'll get it right."

She's also had her share of criticism from Preston's family. In a 2006 article on the case, half-sisters Rodena and Lettie curiously labeled Moore and her husband as the "white couple" who hijacked their brother and were "attempting to assume control over all of [his] assets," refusing to let him see his family.

However, Moore says, she and her husband (who is obviously black) had almost wiped out their life's savings to fight the case and until recently had been using $40,000 per year from PMGI earnings to do so.

Twice, Moore says PMGI offered to settle with LBBS, but neither side could agree on the terms. Last month, Albert gave both sides some stern advice in court. 

"Litigation is always -- particularly in bankruptcy court -- an invitation to a discussion. Because you never get anything black and white, it's always a shade of gray, and it costs a boatload of money to get there," the white-haired and -mustachioed judge observed, leaning back in his chair. "And all of the heated rhetoric makes it more difficult, not less. But maybe peace is going to break out in the valley, and maybe intelligence will overtake emotion. I hope so."

But what broke out in the valley two weeks later wasn't peace. It was a big-ass fire.

Story continues on the next page.