Judge in Anna Nicole Smith Case Resigns

Jun 19, 08:00 PM

Current Headlines: FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Larry Seidlin _ the Broward County circuit court judge who cried on national television over Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's death _ has resigned from the bench.

In a June 13 letter to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Seidlin said he wants to spend more time with his family and be free to pursue other opportunities.

"While those opportunities are varied, they all share in common a further commitment to helping my fellow citizens through roles in the educational system, the media and non-profit organizations," the 57-year-old jurist wrote.

For months, rumors have swirled that Seidlin had met with television executives to talk about plans for a courtroom show.

"A Star is Born, Larry probably got the show," wrote attorney Bill Gelin Tuesday on JAABlog.com _ a controversial Web site that focuses on Broward's judges and courts.

Seidlin declined to comment outside his chambers Tuesday, where dozens of mothers with small children waited for him to hear their cases. Seidlin, who transferred to family court after the Smith case ended in February, remained holed up in his chambers as his secretary fielded phone calls, at one point telling CNN that he was not speaking to the media.

He did, however, agree to having his photograph taken.

Seidlin's announcement comes about a week after the resignation of Lawrence Korda, a Broward judge who also handled portions of the Smith case. Korda, 59, was cited in March after police found him smoking marijuana in a Hollywood, Fla., park.

David Bogenschutz, a close friend who has spoken on Seidlin's behalf in the past, said Seidlin wants to spend time with his young daughter, Dax, and travel with his wife, Belinda.

If something came up "in the media, he'd at least look at it," Bogenschutz said, "but there's nothing that's been signed and there's no immediate thought that that's what he's going to do, but certainly his options are open."

Seidlin said he will leave the bench on July 31.

Chris Stotz, a court administration spokesman, said Seidlin "hasn't let us know what his plans are."

Seidlin both outraged and ingratiated himself with viewers during the six-day probate battle over who had the right to decide where to bury Smith, who died suddenly Feb. 8 while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Fla.

Seidlin's jovial courtroom manner made him the butt of late night jokes, inspiring two parodies on ``Saturday Night Live.''

Seidlin made heads turn during the hearings when he referred to Smith's corpse as "that baby," declaring that her body "belongs to me now."

He coined nicknames for at least one attorney, offered others orange juice and sandwiches and gave long soliloquies, talking about Camelot and Smith's admiration for Marilyn Monroe.

Seidlin was teary and emotional as he ruled that 5-month-old Dannielynn, Smith's next of kin, would have custody of her mother's body and that the child's court-appointed guardian would choose Smith's final resting place in her stead.

And he urged the men in Smith's life to take a paternity test at one point shouting: "It's enough baloney!"

Not everyone thought Seidlin's behavior was comical, however. At least one complaint was filed with the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission about Seidlin's courtroom manner during the proceedings. Even before the Smith case ended, Seidlin had been mentioned as a candidate for a possible court television show.

Seidlin, who put himself through college using the money he earned as a Bronx cabbie, spent nearly 29 years on the bench in Broward. Before becoming a judge, he worked as a county prosecutor.

Seidlin may have been "a little emotional" in his courtroom, said lawyer Jack Seiler, a state representative from Wilton Manors, Fla. But many of the lawyers and their clients who appeared before him also found him refreshingly human.

"Everyone remembers him from this one trial, but he gave almost three decades of his life to public service," Seiler said. "He has a big heart and a nice disposition. He always treated lawyers, litigants and parties with respect."

Skip Campbell, a trial lawyer and former state senator who has been friends with Seidlin for more than 30 years, called Seidlin "one of the more compassionate persons I know," Campbell said. "He genuinely wants to do what's right regardless of who the parties are."

Last week, questions were raised about how an envelope containing 19 X-rays addressed to Anna Nicole Smith's Hollywood, Fla., post office box ended up in a trash room at Seidlin's Fort Lauderdale condominium.

The envelope, from a doctor who has written several books on plastic surgery, was found by a condominium maintenance worker, and have been kept in safe that belongs to the condo association's attorney, Gary Poliakoff.

Poliakoff said there is no evidence linking the X-rays to Seidlin. Krista Barth, an attorney for Smith's longtime companion Howard K. Stern, who oversees Smith's estate, said she will take possession of the X-rays sometime this week.

The X-rays were not evidence entered in the trial and no one knows how they landed up in the trash room of Seidlin's condo.

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(Staff writers Erika Bolstad and Roberto Santiago contributed to this report.)

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