FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A retired judge who briefly heard arguments in cases involving the death of Anna Nicole Smith no longer faces a misdemeanor marijuana charge.
Prosecutors dropped the charge against retired Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda on Thursday after he passed six months of random drug tests, Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Joseph Centorino said.
"He was treated somewhat more severely than someone else who might have been charged with this same crime," Centorino told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Korda was given a misdemeanor citation in March after police said they caught him smoking marijuana in a city park. He later retired.
Prosecutors agreed in May to dismiss the charge if Korda stayed clean for six months and performed 25 hours of community service.
A phone message left after business hours Friday by The Associated Press for Korda's attorney, Michael Dutko, was not immediately returned.
The fight over control of Smith's body began in Korda's courtroom and ended up being heard by Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin. Korda later heard brief arguments in a related case seeking to determine the biological father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn. He ruled that a Bahamian court had jurisdiction over her custody.
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