O'Quinn to represent Anna Nicole's mom

Houston attorney John O'Quinn is in Florida this morning to help Anna Nicole Smith's mom fight for custody of Smith's body, which is being held pending the outcome of a custody hearing. Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, wants Smith's body to be buried in Houston, but she's up against Howard K. Stern, who claims he's the father of Smith's infant daughter, Danielynn. Stern says he wants to take the body to the Bahamas so Smith can be buried next to her son, Daniel. But Arthur says she wants to bury Smith's body in Houston and wants Daniel's body exhumed and brought here as well. And at this point, it looks like who will end up with the body is anyone's guess.

The fight over Smith's body has been going on for a while: First, a judge in Florida ruled that the body had to be held until a Feb. 20 hearing in Los Angeles so that DNA evidence could be gathered. But then a judge in L.A. ruled that the body could be released anytime, and Florida probate judge Larry Seidlin announced yesterday that it isn't going anywhere just yet: "This body belongs to me, Seidlin said, adding that he plans to take his time in making a decision. "The body is in cold storage ... it won't decompose so fast," he said. "I can go over there now and look at it, there's no rush, I am not rushing, I'm crossing every 'T' and dotting every 'I.'"

According to KTRK, John O'Quinn — a highly successful, often controversial lawyer who's rich as Croesus — will also try to help Arthur get custody of Danielynn, presumably so she can give the baby to photographer Larry Birkhead, who she says is Danielynn father (earlier this week, Arthur said she doesn't want Danielynn , but she wants her to live with her real father). Stern, as expected, has announced that Danielynn is the only thing keeping him alive and vowed, rather dramatically, that Arthur will get custody over his dead body. "As long as I have one breath left in my body ... that woman will not see Danielynn," he told Entertainment Tonight.

Houstonist is waiting for Smith's former husband J. Howard Marshall to rise from the dead and testify that he should get custody of Danielynn. And we haven't ruled that out: It's about as likely as the idea that Marshall is Danielynn's father, and some people apparently believe that.