Larry Birkhead And Attorney Part Ways
Celebrity-attorney Debra Opri announced Friday that she is no longer representing Larry Birkhead, the photographer who says he's the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.
"Larry Birkhead and I have terminated our attorney-client relationship effective immediately. I wish Larry the very best of luck in his continuing efforts to prove that he is Dannielynn's biological father. My prayers will be with Larry and Dannielynn always," a statement said.
The Web site TMZ reported Friday that it was Birkhead who terminated the relationship and that they had been butting heads over various issues for weeks.
In an interview with MSNBC's Rita Cosby, Opri said that she terminated the relationship because of the growing unhealthy influence of Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion.
"I just couldn't handle it anymore," she said. "I made my decision to end the relationship last night."Timeline: Anna Nicole Smith
Addressing reports that Birkhead fired her, Opri said, "He has been firing me and hiring me regularly every other day since Howard K. Stern came into the mix."
Opri's announcement comes as a court hearing was under way Friday in the continuing saga over the late star-crossed celebrity.
Birkhead returned to the Bahamas to press his claim that he's the father of her baby daughter in a Nassau courtroom where the late reality TV star's mother was also seeking guardianship of the girl.
"I'm just hoping for good news," Birkhead told reporters before entering the Superior Court building for a private hearing.
The former Playboy playmate's mother, Virgie Arthur, arrived earlier in a white limousine. She claims she could provide a more stable home for the 6-month-old girl than could Stern, who is listed as the father on her Bahamian birth certificate.
Stern, who has remained secluded with Dannielynn in the waterfront home where he lived with Smith, did not appear at the hearing. A judge has ordered him not to take the child out of the island chain until the custody dispute is resolved. .
A small crowd of American tourists gathered with reporters behind a police barricade as Birkhead and Arthur arrived at the pink, colonial-style courthouse, including some who yelled: "We love you Larry!"
Photos: Anna Nicole Smith — Tragedy Strikes
The fight for custody of the girl, who could potentially inherit millions of dollars from her mother's estate, began after Smith died of unknown causes in Florida on Feb. 8.
On Tuesday, Opri asked a judge in Los Angeles to order Stern to come to California and provide a DNA sample. She said a paternity ruling from that state would strengthen her client's case for claiming paternity of the child in the Bahamas.
Regardless of what happens in California, Birkhead is arguing in the Bahamas that Dannielynn's birth certificate was filed incorrectly and that if paternity is in question, custody should also be in question, CBS News correspondent Drew Levinson reports. If he's persuasive, the Bahamian Supreme Court judge could order DNA tests.
Meanwhile, Bahamian authorities have also been meeting with Florida police to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding Smith's sudden death, though officials insist it is not a homicide investigation.
The medical examiner's autopsy report was delayed last week after he was given new classified evidence. The full report is expected next week.