Selena Quintanilla‘s father scores win in ongoing lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez over TV series about late Tejano songstress
Abraham Quintanilla, the father of the late singer Selena, will be able to continue in his lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez.
The father of the late Tejano performer is looking to stop Perez from working with two companies (Endemol Latino and Blue Mariachi) on a TV series about Selena.
A judge in Nueces County, Texas ruled in favor of the patriarch on Friday, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.
![Legal tussle: Abraham Quintanilla will be able to continue in his lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez over a TV series about Selena, a Texas judge ruled Friday](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/01/3D65B66C00000578-0-image-m-57_1487469445278.jpg)
![Legal tussle: Abraham Quintanilla will be able to continue in his lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez over a TV series about Selena, a Texas judge ruled Friday](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/01/3D65B75900000578-0-image-a-58_1487469455833.jpg)
Legal tussle: Abraham Quintanilla (left) will be able to continue in his lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez over a TV series about Selena, a Texas judge ruled Friday
He said in his suit against Perez (and the companies he's working with), that a 2012 book Perez penned that will serve as source material for the TV project - titled To Selena With Love - was unauthorized.
Attorney representing Perez, a 47-year-old musician, had asked the court to throw out Quintanilla's lawsuit under grounds of free speech.
But State District Judge Guy Williams said that Perez's legal team had not established that Quintanilla had filed to stop him from taking part in the production of the series about his late daughter.
![Timeless beauty: Selena, seen here at the 1994 Grammys, is the focal point of a planned TV series her widower Chris Perez is working on](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/03/3D65BC0100000578-4238778-Timeless_beauty_Selena_seen_here_at_the_1994_Grammys_is_the_foca-a-27_1487473459389.jpg)
Timeless beauty: Selena, seen here at the 1994 Grammys, is the focal point of a planned TV series her widower Chris Perez is working on
The father of the I Could Fall in Love singer - who was shot to death at 23 on March 31, 1995 by her fan club president Yolanda Saldivar - told the court that two months after the murder, Perez had agreed to a pact forgoing the rights to her name and likeness to her estate.
As part of the pact, Perez agreed he'd be unable to work on any Selena-related material without Quintanilla‘s written consent, the paper reported.
Quintanilla attorney Michael Trauben told the court that Perez and the companies he's working with on the TV project are 'commercially exploiting her name, image and likeness to make money' with the project.
![Past times: Perez (left) was snapped with Abraham (center) and the singer's immediate family in the wake of the devastating incident](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/08/3D65BE7200000578-4238778-Past_times_Perez_left_was_snapped_with_Abraham_center_and_the_si-a-2_1487492137852.jpg)
Past times: Perez (left) was snapped with Abraham (center) and the singer's immediate family in the wake of the devastating incident
![Tejano tragedy: Perez was snapped looking inconsolable at his wife's funeral in 1995](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/08/3D65BDBA00000578-4238778-Tejano_tragedy_Perez_was_snapped_looking_inconsolable_at_his_wif-a-1_1487492137623.jpg)
Tejano tragedy: Perez was snapped looking inconsolable at his wife's funeral in 1995
The TV project violates the previous agreement, Quintanilla's legal team said, which awarded Perez a quarter of the net profits of any Selena-related material, a total that's eclipsed $1 million.
Attorneys for both sides said they'll speak with their clients in deciding how to move forward in the ongoing litigation.
Perez earlier this month live-blogged during a Lifetime showing of Selena, the 1997 Warner Bros. biopic that helped launch Jennifer Lopez into super-stardom with her feature role as the tragic singer.
![Legal win: The singer's father, seen here in LA last year, said Perez violated a previous pact they had made with his book and the TV series that's in the works](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/08/3D65B6D300000578-4238778-Legal_win_The_singer_s_father_seen_here_in_LA_last_year_said_Per-a-3_1487492137883.jpg)
Legal win: The singer's father, seen here in LA last year, said Perez violated a previous pact they had made with his book and the TV series that's in the works
Perez added his take on various scenes, noting that he wouldn't 'watch the ending of the movie' in which the Dreaming of You singer was fatally shot.
Saldivar was convicted of first-degree murder in October 1995, and sentenced to life with no possibility of parole for at least 30 years, which remains eight years away.
![A legacy cut short: The songstress was a rising star in music at the time of her shocking murder](http://web.archive.org./web/20170220065045/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/19/08/3D65BC8A00000578-4238778-A_legacy_cut_short_The_songstress_was_a_rising_star_in_music_at_-a-4_1487492137891.jpg)
A legacy cut short: The songstress was a rising star in music at the time of her shocking murder
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