Another DNA Sample From Anna Nicole
A judge has ordered another DNA sample to be taken from Anna Nicole Smith's remains in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
During the second day of an emergency hearing, the judge also said that he wanted to show "respect and dignity to" the former Playboy playmate's remains.
Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin adjourned the hearing at 4 p.m. until Friday morning at 9 a.m. so that all parties involved can go to the Broward County Medical Examiner's office, where the medical examiner will take an additional DNA swab from Smith. Seidlin said that if all parties are satisfied with the samples and the medical examiner's work, Smith's body could be embalmed on Friday.
"Within a few minutes after 9 a.m. we're going to have an order which I will sign," the judge said. "You've brought it to my attention that she was a beautiful woman and she wants to remain in that condition as she is placed in her final resting place."
All parties agreed that the medical examiner's office would be the proper place for the embalming.
Meanwhile, the battle over the location of Smith's burial and who will be granted possession of the body continues.
Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, and her estranged mother, Vergie Arthur, each hope to win control of the body. Photographer Larry Birkhead, who claims to have fathered the former centerfold's 5-month-old daughter hopes DNA taken from Smith will prove his case.
Stern claims he is executor of Smith's will and wants to have her buried next to her son in the Bahamas; Arthur wants her daughter buried in her home state of Texas; and Birkhead simply wants to prove he is the father of Dannielynn, who potentially could inherit millions.
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Attorney Roy Black, who spoke with The Early Show's Julie Chen, said that he didn't believe DNA testing was important right now.
"The medical examiner routinely takes many samples," he says, "particularly in this case where he has to determine the cause of death. He has taken plenty of blood, vials of blood, he's taken samples of all her organs. There's plenty of DNA material to be tested. They don't need the body for that."