MALIBU—Actor Ryan O’Neal won the case over the Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett on Thursday,  December 19. The fight for the Warhol painting began when the University of Texas at Austin (UT), Fawcett’s alma mater, sued O’Neal last year after Fawcett’s college boyfriend, Greg Lott, informed the president of UT’s board of regents that there was a second Warhol portrait other than the one already in the university’s possession.

The university’s suspicions were confirmed when an investigator saw the second portrait hanging on the wall in O’Neal’s Malibu home, on the reality show “Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals.” UT claimed that Fawcett, before her death, had intended to bequeath all of her artwork to them, while O’Neal claimed that his long-time friend Andy Warhol had given it to him as a gift.

The jury began their deliberations on Monday, December 16. Superior Court Judge William A. McLaughlin instructed the jury to focus on whether or not Fawcett owned the disputed portrait before her death, because that would determine whether it is lawful for O’Neal to keep it in his possession. Witnesses from the university testified that the portrait was indeed hers, while O’Neal’s witnesses, including his own son Redmond as well as Fawcett’s former chiropractor, testified that it belonged to O’Neal.

The university’s evidence included clips from Fawcett’s own reality show in which Fawcett tells an auction house owner that she is thinking about selling one of her Warhol paintings. Also, the university lawyers presented documents that Fawcett signed, proving that she had loaned the portraits to the Andy Warhol Museum.

The verdict was made at the Los Angeles Superior Court at 3:25 p.m. O’Neal was undergoing a minor surgery to remove a skin cancer legion at the time and was unable to attend.  O’Neal’s testimony, which was read to the jury, claimed that O’Neal had introduced Fawcett, his long-time lover, to Warhol, on the condition that Warhol paint two portraits of Fawcett and give the second one to O’Neal. Shortly after the testimony, the verdict was reached in O’Neal’s favor. The vote was not unanimous.

UT officials are planning to review the case before deciding to appeal. O’Neal’s lawsuit against the university over a tablecloth, on which Warhol wrote the names of O’Neal and Fawcett, is ongoing.