Anna Nicole judge charged with smoking pot

Lawrence Korda was smoking marijuana in a Florida park

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updated 8:15 p.m. ET March 19, 2007

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A judge who had a secondary role in the recent Anna Nicole Smith proceedings was charged with smoking marijuana in a city park, police said Monday.

Lawrence Korda was smoking marijuana while sitting under a tree Sunday, police said. Three officers who were training there saw Korda and field-tested the cigarette, said Capt. Tony Rode, a police spokesman.

The judge was not arrested. He was given a misdemeanor citation to appear in court.

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“Judge Korda was not given special treatment because of his status as a circuit court judge,” Rode said. “He was provided with a notice to appear. That’s exactly what 99 percent of other offenders would have been given for this type of offense.”

A message left by The Associated Press at the judge’s chambers after hours Monday was not immediately returned.

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The fight over control of the former Playboy Playmate and reality TV star’s body began in Korda’s courtroom. It ended up being heard by Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, who carved his own slice of celebrity from the televised hearings with his relentless one-liners and blubbering announcement of his decision.

Seidlin allowed a court-appointed advocate for Smith’s infant daughter to decide where Smith should be buried, and the lawyer decided it would be in the Bahamas.

Korda later heard brief arguments in a related case, seeking to determine the biological father of the baby. He ruled that a Bahamian court had jurisdiction over the child’s custody.