Anna Nicole Exchanges Vows With Lawyer

'Deeply In Love' Couple Pledge Their Commitment During Bahamas Ceremony

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NASSAU, Bahamas, Sept. 29, 2006 | by Judy Faber

(CBS/AP)  Anna Nicole Smith and her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, pledged their commitment to one another in an officiated ceremony early Thursday in the Bahamas. Another of Smith's attorneys says it wasn't a wedding and the ceremony is "not legally binding."

A publicist for Smith told Entertainment Tonight that the couple, the new baby, and family members boarded a boat at 3 a.m. for a private cruise around Nassau.

"The event was intended to be totally private between two adults deeply in love with each other and needing simple reassurances that they could count on one another through life's ups and downs," the publicist said in a statement. A marriage certificate was not issued.

The ceremony follows Stern's claim on CNN's "Larry King Live" earlier this week that he's the father of Smith's newborn baby.

A former boyfriend of Smith's who claims to be the real father called Stern's announcement "laughable." In a statement posted on his Web site, Birkhead said, "I maintain that I am the proud father and look forward to a paternity test."

Stern was with Smith on Sept. 10 when she discovered that her 20-year-old son, Daniel, had died in her hospital room.

Smith believes a pathologist's conclusion that her son died from an accidental lethal combination of drugs shows he didn't commit suicide and hopes that others will learn from the tragedy, a lawyer said Thursday.2

An American examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said the 20-year-old had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died on Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, Wecht said.

"At least she knows the attacks on her son's reputation can be put to rest because it's clear he didn't intentionally take his life," said Wayne Munroe, a Bahamian attorney for the 38-year-old reality TV star and former Playboy Playmate.

Smith, who gave birth to a daughter three days before her son died at her bedside, is awaiting the conclusions of Wecht and the Bahamas pathologist who performed a separate official autopsy, Munroe said.

Wecht is waiting for test results on tissue samples before he completes his final report.

Smith wants others to learn from her son's death, Munroe told The Associated Press.

©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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