DNA Test Ordered For Anna Nicole's Baby
A Bahamian judge on Tuesday ordered a DNA test on Anna Nicole Smith's infant daughter to identify the baby's father, an attorney for Smith's mother said.
Larry Birkhead, an ex-boyfriend of the Playboy playmate who asked the judge to order the test on 6-month-old Dannielynn, pumped his fists in the air and jumped up and down as he emerged from the closed hearing.
"I feel great," he said. "It's been a good day in court for me."
The infant, who could inherit a fortune, has been the subject of competing paternity claims since Smith died on Feb. 8 in Florida.
Deborah Rose, an attorney for Smith's mother Virgie Arthur, confirmed the judge ordered the test, but she and others who attended the hearing declined to describe the proceedings.
Authorities left the building after the hearing and could immediately be reached for comment.
Birkhead and Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, who is listed as the father on her birth certificate and has resisted the DNA tests, attended a closed court hearing Tuesday in the Bahamian capital Nassau.
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Arthur wants to take Dannielynn from Stern, arguing she could provide a more stable home.
Jean Casarez, a correspondent for Court TV, is covering the Smith case in the Bahamas and spoke with The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Tuesday morning about what was expected to happen in court.
Casarez said that a DNA expert has arrived in Nassau.
"We know that's what Larry Birkhead wants," Casarez said. "Court TV news has confirmed that Dr. Michael Beard, a DNA expert from the United States, has arrived here in Nassau."
The Bahamian courts have ordered Stern not to leave the country with the girl before a custody ruling.
Smith, 39, died last month after collapsing at a Florida hotel. Authorities have not disclosed the cause.
Stern did not speak to reporters as he arrived in a black SUV and entered the courthouse. He has been caring for Dannielynn in the gated, waterfront home where he lived with Smith in the months before she died.
The girl, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, could inherit millions from the estate of Smith's late husband, Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. Smith had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995.
Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, also says he may be Dannielynn's father. Last month, he also filed legal documents seeking a DNA test to determine if he is the father.