Birkhead: Anna Detoxed While Pregnant
Lawyers in a Florida hearing regarding the custody of Anna Nicole Smith's body grilled her companion, her mother, and an ex-boyfriend Wednesday to determine if they received financial remuneration from any news organization.
The line of questioning sought to establish whether either Howard K. Stern, Virgie Arthur, or Larry Birkhead were motivated by money.
"Is it the heart that's chasing this or is it that money's chasing it? Or is it a combination of both?" said Broward County Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin.
Birkhead, who said he began an intimate relationship with Smith in July 2004, claimed that Smith spent two weeks in an in-patient detox program in April 2006, while she was pregnant with her now 5 month old daughter Dannielynn.
Birkhead says he is the baby's biological father, as does Stern.
He described Stern as Smith's friend, lawyer, gofer, and "multi-tasker," but claimed that the relationship between the two was never intimate.
While Smith was in the hospital, Birkhead said he and Stern slept in her hospital room.
"She was taking medications before and during pregnancy. I was concerned about that, because we already had one miscarriage and every time she put something in her mouth it would affect her and the child," said Birkhead. "So we had a couple clashes in the hospital room. Because she and Mr. Stern brought in a duffel bag with drugs."
Birkhead, a freelance photographer, said he did not receive money for any interviews that he has done since the Sept. 10 death of Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel. He said he has received royalties for any archive photos of Smith that were used during those interviews.
Smith's mother wants her daughter buried in Texas, while Stern wants her buried in the Bahamas next to Daniel.
The judge asked Birkhead if he had an opinion on the location of Smith's burial.
"I'm a California resident, and if and when I get the daughter that I believe is mine, she would have to travel to the Bahamas (to visit the grave)," said Birkhead. "I don't want to separate the mother from (her son). But I don't want them in the Bahamas, so I'm having trouble with that."
Earlier in the afternoon, Stern was also questioned about his financial motives.
He testified that his only remuneration came from "Entertainment Tonight," which paid for a chartered plane from Florida to the Bahamas after Smith's death. He said that he was interviewed by the show while on the plane, but pointed out that he and Smith had been on the show many times in the past.
He also said that he had discussed with ET that if there was a televised funeral for Smith, he would want all revenue to go to a trust for Dannielynn, executed by an impartial third party.
Since leaving his law practice in 2002, Stern said he's been mostly supported by Smith, who paid for his apartment in Los Angeles and covered the majority of his expenses. He did say that he received a small amount of money for his appearance on Smith's reality show.
He testified that he was on a retainer as a lawyer in Smith's claim to get a share of her former husband J. Howard Marshall's estate. He said that he would get 6 percent of the money awarded if he wins the case, which is still pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Stern said that in the meantime his parents wired him a "significant" amount of money to help cover his legal costs in the fight for Smith's body.
A lawyer for Arthur also grilled Stern about Smith's drug use. Stern claimed that she did take prescription medicines, including methadone, but that he had tried to discourage her drug use.
"I talked to her about it and she did cut down a lot on medication that she took. Can anybody stop someone else entirely?" said Stern. "Anna, when she made her decisions was pretty clear on her decisions. It's not like Anna was medicated all the time. She formed an intent and made the intent clear and made it clear to many people."
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Earlier in the day, Stern's lawyer asked Arthur if she sold a video of Daniel's memorial in the Bahamas for $12,500. Arthur said she didn't receive any money from any "news place."
She said the only person who had profited from her daughter was Stern.
But after lunch, under cross-examination, Arthur said that she was accompanied to the Bahamas on Jan. 22 by David Lee whom she called "a friend of the family." She said that Lee, a journalist for Splash News, provided plane fare for the trip.
Lee, a Florida resident, accompanied Arthur on Wednesday during a morbid field trip of sorts to the Broward Medical Examiner's Office for an impromptu viewing of Smith's body. Birkhead and Stern also attended the viewing.
Arthur was questioned if she had tipped off Splash News about the trip to the morgue, which she denied.
WFOR-TV in Fort Lauderdale captured video of Birkhead, Stern and Arthur, all arriving separately between 1:45 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Broward Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper warned that Smith's body is quickly decomposing, even though it's been embalmed. He said a public viewing might not be possible if it doesn't happen soon.
Earlier Wednesday, Arthur said that after her grandson's death, she predicted her daughter would die. Now she says she fears for the well being of her granddaughter, Dannielynn.
"I'm afraid for her life as well. Please help us," she said, wiping away tears.
She said she wanted to bring her daughter's body and grandson's body to Texas. The Bahamas was "not his home, it's not Vicki's home," Arthur said.
Arthur explained that she hadn't seen her daughter since 1995 or 1996 because, "she was surrounded by people … she was on drugs."
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Without written proof of Smith's own wishes, Seidlin is forced to hear testimony from those who claim to know what Smith wanted.
Arthur wants Smith brought home to her native Texas, insisting that despite their estrangement, she has the right to bury her own daughter, not a man to whom Smith wasn't even married.
According to Stern, Smith was adamant about burying her son in the Bahamas, where he died just days after Smith's daughter was born there in September.
At Daniel's funeral, "she said 'if Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him,'" Stern said.
In Los Angeles, Stern's lawyers also were arguing the paternity issue Tuesday with attorneys for Birkhead, who says he fathered the girl. That hearing was closed to the public.
Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has filed a separate paternity challenge to Stern's claim.
Since Smith's death Feb. 8 in Florida, the baby has been living with Stern in the Bahamas. The cause of Smith's death is under investigation. She was 39.