A judge mediating among lawyers fighting over the now-embalmed body of Anna Nicole Smith said he hoped to "retain the beauty and dignity" of the former Playboy Playmate at the center of a legal and tabloid extravaganza.
Judge Larry Seidlin may succeed at preserving the busty blond's beauty to her grave, but dignity appears more elusive.
In the 10 days since Smith died of unexplained causes, the theater of it all has, at least occasionally, eclipsed the 2008 presidential race and the war in Iraq. CNN even did a story about why Americans feel compelled to lie to pollsters that they don't care about Smith's death when, by every measurable standard, they are riveted.
But beneath the spectacle, experts say Smith's roller-coaster life and death have raised legal questions that could reverberate for years and even alter federal bankruptcy law....more