Biography Judge Larry Seidlin - Essay Example

?Biography Order No. 555472 Judge Larry Seidlin was from Florida and became quite well known for his unorthodox oversight in the case of Anna Nicole Smith. The judges from Florida do not enjoy a good reputation because not only their demeanor and attitude embarrasses the general public, but also their corruption and silly and unintelligible questions and answers in the court of law. There was nothing different in the Anna Nicole Smith’s case where Judge Seidlin repeated such attitude again. In this essay we would be discussing the above said case and prove this to be true. Introduction Larry Seidlin, was born in the Bronx, New York, on May 24th 1950. He was a State Court judge from Florida, who presided over the Anna Nicole case that caused critical ripples in the media. Seidlin was initially a taxi driver, who gradually worked his way through school and finally graduated in New York from night law school. By the age of 28 years, he got elected into the Broward County and came to be the youngest judge to be appointed there. Judge Larry Seidlin (59 years) was quite well known to be a shrewd judge in the sense that he too indulged in bribery and extortion during his tenure. He came into the national spotlight and received a lot or criticism from both the media as well as critics when he presided over the Anna Nicole Smith’s case involving body custody. Judge Seidlin had a strong desire to be a judge on a television courtroom show and is even said to have recorded some of the cases in his courtroom to be used as a demo. Finally, he did come under the spotlight when he went on National television, where Seidlin explained that places such as Texas and Florida that have high retiree populations pose a great attraction to financial predators and felt that such acts were slowly carried out and received very minimal media attention. In addition he demonstrated that courtrooms were potent places where self- promotion and ego gratification played major roles, rather than the taxpayer or consumer receiving justice for their law suit. Seidlin’s poor Reputation However, it was very unfortunate that the Florida judge Seidlin, his wife and in-laws were sued by 83 year old Barbara Kasler, who claimed that the judge, his wife and in-laws had exploited her by feigning friendship and had stolen jewelry, money and lots of other personal items. Kasler also claimed that thousands of dollars were diverted from her estate in lieu of purchasing property. It is estimated that the Seidlin family had chiseled off approximately half a million dollars from Barbara Kasler, an elderly widow who possessed a multi-million dollar fortune. In fact, her will had the names of Seidlin’s wife and daughter on it. Seidlin, the shrewd person that he is, never ventured to include his name in any of the documents, but yet worked his way stealthily to take charge of the widow’s million dollar fortune. However, Kasler’s caregivers, family members and an activist Lyn Evans, managed to slowly disengage the parasitic Seidlin from the rich fortunes of the widow. A Taste of Justice The turning point came when the Seidlin’s and the Rays were sent out from the widow’s palatial apartment and slowly Barbara improved in health both physically and mentally and came to understand that Seidlin and his family where not working for her best interests. Her will bearing the names of Seidlin and his daughter was revoked and a new will was drawn up. Kasler’s estate trustee, Steve Fuller and her estate attorney, Richard Judd were fired from their posts for their outrageous exploitation. The Case of Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith who modeled for the Playboy had fallen in love with Howard Marshall, the oil billionaire, who was sixty years older to her and whom she met at one of her stripping sessions. The couple got married in 1994, when Anna Nicole was 27years old and Marshall was 89years. During the marriage which lasted for only about a year, Anna was showered with gifts worth millions. However, after her husband Howard’s death in 1995, Anna’s aim was to gain a part of the inheritance which was valued at over 1.6 billion. Contesting against her was Howard’s younger son E. Pierce Marshall who had no intentions of giving Anna a share of the inheritance. In the wake of a protracted battle between Anna and her step- son Pierce, which passed through different courts in Texas, Louisiana and California, a bankruptcy court in California awarded Anna 475 million from the Marshall estates. However, this amount was brought down to 88 million by another Federal court. The case though now resolved after a long legal, survived its members – Marshall, his son Pierce, Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel. Death of Anna Nicole Smith Misfortune hit Anna Nicole when her son Daniel died and she never got over the episode of his death. She deteriorated in health and broke down badly when she spoke of him. Finally, unable to face the grief of losing her son Daniel, she was found dead. The Case The case of who was to gain custody of the body was carried out by Florida judge Seidlin. The people who tried to gain custody of her body were her estranged mother and her long time boyfriend and companion Howard K. Stern. The media described the Anna Nicole case as a “circus” or a “zoo” and described Seidlin as the “zookeeper” or “ringmaster”. The case gained even more momentum when Anna’s ex- boyfriend Larry Birkhead locked horns with Howard K. Stern as to who was the legal father of her 5month old baby Dannielynn. The case was long and drawn and Seidlin did not seem to want to take a quick decision. More than wanting to put an end to the trauma, he seemed as if he wanted to impress everyone in court since the cameras were rolling. Though he could have easily ordered a DNA test, he did not but instead he kept passing remarks and joking during the court sessions. In conclusion we could say that Judge Seidlin took an unusually long time to take a stand on the Anna Nicole case which could have been done easily but instead contributed to the pain and trauma faced by the various parties involved in the case. Works Cited Anna Nicole Smith www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/us/24smith.html Anna Nicole Smith www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253198,00.html All Rise/ Judge Seidlin www.tmz.com/2007/02/ Judiciary Report – Anna Nicole’s Case www.judiciaryreport.com/anna-nicole-florida-judges.htm Judge Seidlin’s Clan Removed www.blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/ Read More