Ruling on Smith's body; O'Quinn collapses in court

An update in the court battle over custody of Anna Nicole Smith's remains: Judge Larry Seidlin ruled today that Richard Milstein, the guardian of Smith's infant daughter, should get the body. It's now up to Milstein what to do with the body — Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, wanted her buried in Texas, but her boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, said she should be buried with her son in the Bahamas. (Smith apparently told Arthur several years ago that she wanted to be buried near Marilyn Monroe, who is entombed in Los Angeles.) No one's sure yet what Milstein will do with Smith's body, but Seidlin gave his opinion of what should happen: "I want her to be buried with her son in the Bahamas," he said. "I want them to be together."

Today's announcement was another odd page in what's becoming an oddfest of epic proportions: Seidlin began the day with a long speech in which he speculated on the nature of Smith's relationships with Arthur and her ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead, one of the crowd who might or might not be the father of Smith's daughter. Smith's relationships with her mom and ex might have gone south, he posited, because of her use of prescription drugs — which led him to discuss Stern, Smith's lawyer and another potential father. "We have Stern. Is he a bad guy or is he a fellow that has some form of a love for her? We don’t know," Seidlin said. "Whatever relationship he had with her, he would be called maybe an enabler." That caused Stern's lawyer, Krista Barth, to try to object, but Seidlin would have none of it. Later, Seidlin wept and held the hand of a court clerk as he explained his ruling.

Earlier in the day, there was other drama: Houston lawyer John O'Quinn — who is on Arthur's legal team — collapsed during the testimony of Denise James, a friend of Smith's. "I figure he's a diabetic and didn't eat anything," Seidlin said. "What do you need as a diabetic, 'Texas?' Get him an orange juice." James reportedly pulled a chocolate bar from her bag and gave it to O'Quinn, and everything was apparently OK from then on.

Milstein will reportedly work with Arthur, Stern and Birkhead to decide where Smith should be buried. We wish him luck on that one.