Anna Nicole Smith $88 Million Richer

A federal judge in Los Angeles today (3/7) awarded Anna Nicole Smith $88.5 million in connection with the latest legal scrum involving the estate of her late oil tycoon husband. U.S. District Court Judge David Carter ruled that Smith, whose real name is Vickie Lynn Marshall, is entitled to punitive damages of $44,292,767.33 and an identical amount in compensatory damages, according to the below judgment.

The punitive damages, Carter ruled, are to be paid by E. Pierce Marshall, the son of Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall. Smith, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year and current plus-size model, has been involved in a prolonged legal battle over her husband's estate. J. Howard Marshall died in 1995 at age 90. Smith and Marshall, who met in a strip club, were married in 1994, when the buxom model was 26 and her rickety suitor was 89.

Marshall's son has contended in assorted legal proceedings that he is his father's sole legal heir. A previous bankruptcy court decision awarding Smith $474 million was vacated last year by Judge Carter, who has now made Smith one of the country's most eligible bachelorettes. (2 pages)

BONUS: Read judge's amusing take on illiterate Anna Nicole.

BONUS II: Click here for 79-page decision (a must for Mr. Smith wannabes).