Judge in Anna Nicole's Case Speaks Out

Retired judge Larry Seidlin speaks out on "GMA" in an exclusive interview.

ByABC News via logo
January 28, 2009, 9:12 AM

Jan. 28, 2009 — -- Nearly two years after Anna Nicole Smith's death, people still recognize the Florida judge who presided -- at times tearfully -- over the battle for the former Playboy playmate's remains.

"We go places and people say, 'You're the judge. God bless you.' And then they start hugging me," retired judge Larry Seidlin said in an exclusive interview on "Good Morning America" today.

Seidlin, in his first interview since presiding over the case, navigated what critics called circuslike proceedings for Smith's body. Eighteen attorneys, who represented five separate clients, squared off against one another in a bizarre drama that unfolded in Seidlin's courtroom.

Yet even with the publicity surrounding the trial and the then-unresolved issue of Smith's infant daughter Dannielynn's paternity saga, it was Seidlin's courtroom antics that drew the most attention.

His lengthy soliloquies and sometimes tearful, emotive demeanor, helped make the legal proceedings must-see television for viewers and led to constant coverage.

But Seidlin, who spent 28 years on the bench in family court, said his primary goal was to ensure a harmonious resolution, not seek fame for himself.

Some critics disagreed and argued that Seidlin was taking the focus away from the trial.

"A lot of the lawyers that spoke about the case aren't family lawyers," Seidlin said.

They don't understand the workings of family court, he said. "I try to leave my critics in my dust.

"When you sat as a judge you felt like you were doing God's work trying to bring families back together," he told "GMA."

Seidlin said he was boosted further when an appellate court upheld his ruling that Smith be buried in the Bahamas beside her beloved son Daniel Smith.

"I was satisfied with the result," Seidlin said. "At the end of the trial you saw all the parties outside the court holding hands."