Celebrity News February 20, 2007
Dannielynn's Dueling Daddies Face Off in Court
The battle over the future of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn heated up Tuesday morning.
The dueling daddies, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead, were present for the courtroom drama, as was Anna's estranged mother.
“She is my best friend, my lover, the mother of my daughter, everything to me,” Stern said on the stand. “From the day Daniel died, Anna honestly was never the same. She said, 'If Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him.'”
But it was Judge Larry Seidlin who seemed to steal the thunder in the courtroom Tuesday, as he declared the trial is “not a circus anymore!”
The 30-year courtroom vet, who was once a Bronx cabbie and got his law degree in night school, delivered one one-liner after another.
“It's like a Muhammad Ali fight; sometimes you have to wait the whole 10 rounds,” he said.
In fact, TMZ.com reports that the judge has even made demo tapes in the past, hoping to land his own TV court show.
Now, “People's Court” straight shooter and former Miami judge, Marilyn Milian, is laying down the law with “Extra,” revealing the judge's objective now is to decide “what were Anna Nicole's wishes.”
“She buried her son in the Bahamas. She bought a plot next to her son in the Bahamas. Maybe she wants to be buried in the Bahamas,” Judge Milian said.
While the courtroom was closed to cameras, our Carlos Diaz was inside the incredibly tense room to tell everything you won't see on TV.
Carlos sat next to Anna's biological father, Donald Hogan, with whom “Extra” was present at his and Anna's tearful 1993 reunion.
In front of Carlos were Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern, who sat just feet from each other. At one point, Larry and Anna's mother, Virgie, embraced.
“Extra” will continue to bring the latest from the courtroom in days to come.