Grace: Smith Surrounded By "Jackals"

(CBS)  The war in Iraq rages on, a scandal at Walter Reed hospital has come to light and candidates are starting to gear up their presidential campaigns.

But what topic is dominating the news? Anna Nicole Smith's death.

The reason, says Nancy Grace host of Court TV's "Nancy Grace: Closing Arguments" and a self-titled show on Headline News, is simple: Smith seemed to have everything and people are trying to understand how a charmed life ended so tragically.

"To look at Anna Nicole Smith — she is beautiful, beyond anything I could ever imagine being," Grace told CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras in an interview for Sunday Morning. "She has money; she has all these admirers, fame, fortune, a family, everything. And look what happened to her. And it's puzzling and confusing, and it's a mystery. You know, people want answers."

Another aspect that mystifies the public is the spectacle that has surrounded Smith since she was found dead Feb. 8 while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Her death came five months after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn, and the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel.

2"Then when you see parties surrounding her like jackals — literally, over her dead body — literally — it is a sight to behold," Grace said. "And again, that is why we have rules of evidence, which are to be used in court and, because there was a breakdown in the justice system, we saw that free-for-all. It's like 18 wet cats in a barrel. There were 18 lawyers in the courtroom instead of what should have been a dignified proceeding regarding her burial."

Grace spoke in reference to the initial Florida Circuit Court proceeding over custody of Smith's remains, which was presided over by judge Larry Seidlin. Many critics have said Seidlin has aspirations to be a star himself. Although the case may have spiraled into a circus, Grace says on her show that she covers it from a legal angle and does not "condone the besmirching of her (Smith's) name."

"I really think that is wrong," she said. "People laughing about her and mocking her and airing her dirty laundry in a court of law of all places. I rail against that and have railed against it since day one."

On March 2, Smith was finally laid to rest next to her son in Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Nassau, Bahamas.

[prettypalace]

I'm so glad people see Anna's female parent for the spawn of Satan that she is. I'm relieved that Anna will be laid to rest next to her son. She loved him sooo much that she named his sister after him while he was alive. My heart broke for Anna when her son passed and while I'm glad she can finally get some peace I'm heart broken that she was separated from her beautiful baby girl. Anna was quite loving and human and she tried to be strong but there's only so much intrusion and abuse (from the media, the jealous, and the greedy) that anyone could take. I'm sure in addition to any other health problem she may have had the stress of this everyday abuse had to weaken her heart muscle. We all know that stress ruins health. I pray that Anna is peaceful and happy now and that nothing happens to Mr. Stern under all the stress that he is experiencing. Given the choices I just couldn't stand to see Danielynn have to leave the protection and love of Mr. Stern. I couldn't stand to see that precious baby girl end up with any of those other clowns trying to get their hands on her especially her maternal grandmother! It just pisses me off to see the evil live so well and so long and sweethearts like Anna and Danny are taken away so young. You are loved Anna you are loved.

[dixieatlanta]

For those of us who watched the Probate Hearing on live TV with Judge Larry, we all heard Virgie (Mama)tell Judge Larry she was a Deputy Sheriff in Houston for 28 years. She stated for the court that she drove a patrol car, she wore a gun and holster everyday, she worked at the jail house too. she stated she made over one thousand arrests in her career. Everyday of her life as a deputy she arrested,"cuffed & stuffed" people into the back of her patrol car everyday. She looked like an evil Bulldog ready to "attack" Howard Stern while she was on the wirness stand! I bet she wishes she was still wearing a "badge" & still working for the Sheriff's dept, so she can find some "excuse" to "cuff & stuff" Howard Stern into the back of her old dusty patrol car. If you look closely at the expressions on the face of Vergie, she "looks" so evil & hateful, the same way that Anna Nicole described her as "Mommie Dearest". Virgie doesn't deserve anything but "Karma".

[thickmaddamn]

I am really saddened at the way Anna Nicole's so called mother totally disrespected her own daughter, by what seemed to me that she was having a fit, throwing dirt in her daughters grave and then walking all over it. so that's love right? this is the same woman that 30 minutes before the funeral tried to have it stopped again. I just want to know what is wrong with her? And what about the Dna tests, how long is this going to take? My heart and prayers go out to Howard Stern and Daniellynn, I know that god has his hands of love on you.

[preious-2009]

I am sick to death about this. I agree airing someone dirty laundry when they are death is just inhuman and unfair. Anna can't defend herself-I can't stand her mother and that if we stop paying attention to her now that Anna has been laid to rest she will disappear and shrivel like she is suppossed too. Soon the people who have been flying her around and promising her to pay her expenses will disappear because we all know how frivolous America is and we will soon go on to the next story!!! I hope she doesn't get a dime of the money. Howard please don;t grow weary and keep fighting for Anna's rights. There are people who pray and support you!!!

[fyrefly_7784]

Vergie. you are a VULCHER. All you wanted was attention and money..I hope all these LEGAL EAGLES cost you the rest of your life in debt. It is for sure you didn't really want the remains..You were seen laughing,waving and smiling durning all those days you were ,supposedly mourning,MOURNING, you have no Idea what that means...I hope you are never allowed to see Dannielynn,You certainly don't deserve it..You made a mockery out of the death of your child. You didn't raise Anna,her aunt raised her..You were never her mother,You just consided yourself her mother. I think she did well to raise her son alone,reguardless what she had to do to earn the money. She was loved for herself not for being YOUR daughter.I hope the rest of your life is a living HELL and you are never allowed to see ANNA'S baby girl.

[mjmmjjb]

It saddened me to see Anna Nicole's life reduced to wild, idle gossip. Since when is a body needed to pay respect to a departed loved one. Surely, Ms. Arthur's time would have been better spent organizing a beautiful memorial service in Anna Nicoles hometown so that all of her "relatives" could pay their final respects. Maybe Birkhead could have held a memorial service in California for all of Anna Nicoles California connections to attend and commemorate her life. Instead they each selfishly went about fighting over the remains with an agenda that had nothing to with love and concern for Anna Nicole Smith. Love for her would have been to honor her request to be buried next to her son rather than allowing her body to slowly decay in some morgue. Where her body ended up had nothing to do with a tribute to her life. Have there been any memorial services?

[dixieatlanta]

I think it is just "wrong" to speak ill of the dead , who cannot "defend" themselves. Now of us a "perfect", we should not expect Anna Nicole to be "perfect" either. Why does some of the news media say so many negative things about Anna Nicole Smith? The very people who are saying all the bad things about Anna Nicole, I wonder how their own lives would hold up under the "microscope" of the news teams? We all have a little "dirty laundry" hidden in our own family closets, but because most of us are "not" famous like Anna Nicole smith, we can keep our private lives "private". I think so many people are "jealous" of her level of success in her life. How many of us are worth Billions of dollars? Not too many of us are able to "earn" even one million dollars in our life time. Remember one thing, up until now, this poor girl has "never" gotten even a dime of her dead husbands estate. Remember the fact is,she even had to file "bankrupt" a few years back. The money Anna Nicole Smith got from Playboy,Guess, Lane Bryant and other companies that money did "not" come from the "Marshall estate", that money came from Anna Nicole "working" as an independent female. That money was "earned" independently by "her". I think she has earned some "respect" for working and supporting her son Daniel all those years, as a single-Mother.So please give a little respect for the dead and try to remember the good things and remember the baby will read and hear all about her mother when she is older.

[dixieatlanta]

Nancy Grace you go girl!!!! I agree 100% with the you!!! These jackals make me sick!! That Vergie "BullDog" Arthur, trying to win the dog fight for scraps!!! Where was that Virgie "Bulldog", the last 10-15 years in Anna Nicole's life???? All the world saw and heard the tearful words from the mouth of Anna Nicole when you told the true relationship between herself and the "Bulldog" mother. I am from the South, the same as you, and the same as Anna Nicole, so we both know about Beatings and Whippings that go in in the South and across America. It is wrong to "Beat" any child, and you heard Anna Nicole's own words, "The last time she beat me I was 21 years old." You can see that abuse went on into "adulthood" also. I hope Virgie the "Bulldog" does not get a penny, and I hope she does not ever get any visitation rights to see or "touch" Danielynn, remember the words from Anna Nicole, "She will "never" touch my baby (Danielynn). There must have been some "good" reason, why Anna put Howard K. Sterns name on Daniellynn'd birth certificate, right?

[dgshiner]

What I have never understood about Anna Nicole's case is she had a will or last testament even had films of how she wanted her arrangements to be made and it is totally floored me how this poor woman has been made a spectical in her demise. That Judge and all of the folks around her did not do anything but use this woman, a mother who wants the money, a lawyer turned boyfriend, and now supposedly they are fighting over the child incredible! USA is really gone down!