Broward Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin surprised everyone by ruling from the bench today. Here’s the latest from the Boston Globe:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. –Anna Nicole Smith will be buried in the Bahamas, alongside her dead son, it was announced Thursday after a tearful judge left the decision up to the attorney for the model’s baby daughter.
Richard Milstein, the court-appointed lawyer for 5-month-old Dannielynn, announced the plans not long after a judge gave him control of Smith’s final resting place. He gave no timeframe for the burial.
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The judge, who choked up frequently and sometimes blubbered as he explained his decision, compromised and gave custody to Milstein. And the judge made it abundantly clear what he felt should be done."I want her buried with her son in the Bahamas," he said through tears. "I want them to be together."
By the way, choking up, "blubbering," speaking through tears, is not exactly the court-room demeanor one would expect from a veteran trial judge. But then again, Judge Seidlin’s performance in this case has become a topic of discussion all on its own. Here’s what this Miami Herald report had to say:
He’s become something of a national spectacle for his role as Anna Nicole Smith’s probate judge, with his colleagues snickering about his courtroom demeanor and with national legal analysts deriding his professional judgment.
But Broward Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin has been taking it all in stride, keeping in daily contact with the county’s chief judge and refusing to let the criticism stop him from long soliloquies and other courtroom antics.
Thanks to Alachua, FL attorney Jane E. Hendricks for alerting me to this latest breaking news.