Related: Former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith dies
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Anna Nicole Smith | BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- "This is wacko!" shouted a lawyer Thursday as the battle over Anna Nicole Smith's body escalated and an ever-growing contingent of attorneys could only agree she should be embalmed because no one is sure when the former Playmate will be buried.
Lawyers will resume arguments in probate and family courts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday over Smith's body, how blood and tissue samples will be used in paternity tests and who will get custody of her infant daughter.
At one juncture, after several rounds of repetitive, heated arguments over DNA testing, a lawyer blurted what may have been on the minds of many assembled in court.
"This is wacko!" shouted John O'Quinn, a Texas lawyer representing Smith's mother. "Wacko!"
Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin -- ridiculed on cable TV news shows for his casual manner and off-the-cuff, wry pronouncements -- often had to remind the participants of the central concern.
"In the maze that we're in, the center is the child," he declared.
Seidlin also appointed Miami lawyer Richard Milstein to represent Dannielynn's interests in the local court, a move that raised objections from lawyers for Smith's mother as well as her longtime partner, Howard Stern.
As Dannielynn's guardian ad litem, Milstein said he's seeking two things for the child: to ensure a place where she can visit her mother's grave, and to make sure she never has to know about the media and legal tussle over her life.
The girl could get up to 650 million U.S. dollars if a court rules Smith can posthumously inherit the fortune of her late husband, an oil magnate who died in 1995.
A large share of the court's decision may fall to Shane Kelley, a Fort Lauderdale probate lawyer charged with hearing out each party and making recommendations to the judge.
Judge Seidlin appointed Kelley as administrator ad litem yesterday. The judge strongly hinted that Kelley's findings will carry great weight with the court.
"I want you to give me a road map here," said Judge Seidlin to Kelley, monitoring the hearing by phone. "I'm between the Bahamas and Texas."
And just when it seemed things were going smoothly, another party may be entering the fracas over Smith's remains.
The Tejas Indian nation may file papers with Broward court requesting a DNA test to determine whether Smith has the tribal genome.
If Smith, whom tribal officials say applied for tribal membership in the late 1990s, does have Tejas blood, the matters of her body and her burial could be further complicated, possibly even requiring a tribal court's ruling, said Juan Matthews, a spokesman for the Tejas nation.
The hearing also decided that Smith will be embalmed at the medical examiner's office to ensure round-the-clock security and curtail a media circus.
Judge Seidlin appointed Milstein to hire a Broward undertaker to embalm Smith's body. Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda will hold a hearing today to determine which court has jurisdiction in the DNA matter.
Judge Seidlin congratulated the lawyer, and himself, for making progress yesterday, and again reiterated the importance of respect for the wishes of the deceased.
"We want to preserve the beauty and model figure of Miss Smith," said Judge Seidlin. "Beauty was important to her."
(Agencies)
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