Saturday, February 24, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Lawyers for Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend asked a judge Friday to step into the paternity case over the former Playboy Playmate's baby, but the judge said he doubted he had that authority.
Smith's boyfriend Howard K. Stern is listed on 5-month-old Dannielynn's birth certificate as her father, but two other men claim to have fathered the girl.
Los Angeles photographer Larry Birkhead, Smith's ex-boyfriend, wants the court here to enforce a California judge's orders so he can get DNA samples from Smith's body and the baby.
Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, also says he may be the father.
A private hearing in the Bahamas to determine guardianship of the girl is expected to resume Monday between Stern and Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, who also is seeking custody. The judge in that case has barred Stern from taking the girl out of the Bahamas until a custody ruling.
Broward County Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda seemed at a loss as to how the case had landed in Florida, where Smith died two weeks ago.
"I'm trying to figure out what jurisdiction there could possibly be here. ... I'm not even sure California's got jurisdiction," Korda said.
"This child is in the Bahamas. The jurisdiction is in the Bahamas," he said, but added that he would examine the issue and rule quickly.
Birkhead's attorneys said they planned to go to the Bahamas on Monday to request custody of the girl.
"I'll go anywhere I have to," Birkhead said outside the courtroom.
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