26 février, 2007 14:55
Jurisdiction Questioned in Anna Nicole Smith Paternity Suits
Jordana Mishory
Daily Business Review
02-26-2007
Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda is questioning whether his court has jurisdiction over the paternity issues in the case of the late celebrity tabloid icon Anna Nicole Smith and her infant daughter, Dannielynn.
During a Friday morning hearing in his chambers, Korda asked what "jurisdiction there could possibly be" in Broward County, Fla., to oversee the paternity testing. Several men, including California attorney Howard K. Stern and Los Angeles photographer Larry Birkhead, claim to have fathered Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern. Birkhead filed this paternity suit in a California court and in Broward Circuit Court.
Korda refused to hear arguments on issues other than those on his rights to hear the case. He suggested moving the paternity-custody dispute to the Bahamas, where Dannielynn has lived for her entire short life.
In the legal battle over the former model's body, Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, filed an emergency appeal Friday of Judge Larry Seidlin's surprise ruling to award custody of Smith's rapidly decomposing body to Dannielynn's guardian ad litem, Richard C. Milstein of Akerman Senterfitt in Miami.
Arthur wants the body to be buried in her daughter's native Texas. Because the body is rotting fast, an appellate expert predicted that the 4th DCA would issue a decision in the next day or two. A family law expert and guardian ad litem not involved in the case said Seidlin's decision was the correct one.
Dannielynn stands to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars that her mother claimed from her marriage to a deceased Texas oil tycoon. Her guardian ad litem, Milstein, has declined to comment.
The hearing before Korda occurred the morning after Judge Seidlin sobbingly awarded custody of the body of the former stripper and Playboy Playmate to Milstein. Milstein plans to have Smith buried in the Bahamas alongside Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel, who died last year of a suspected lethal drug interaction.
Korda told litigants in his courtroom Friday morning that he would rule soon on whether he has jurisdiction. He explained, however, that the time pressures that existed in the dispute over custody of Smith's body did not exist in this paternity dispute. A number of outside family law experts say there is no jurisdiction for this issue in Broward because none of the parties reside here.
"The DNA samples are not going anywhere," said Korda, who has served on the Broward bench since 1978. He said the DNA is readily obtainable from Birkhead because he is filing the suit, and the DNA from Smith is sitting in the medical center. The bigger problem is getting a DNA sample from the baby, who is in the Bahamas.
During the hearing, Birkhead's attorneys said several efforts were made to obtain the DNA from Dannielynn in the Bahamas, but they were not fruitful.
Several men have come forward claiming to be the father of Danielynn. Her birth certificate names Stern, Smith's longtime companion, as her legal father, and she bears Stern's last name. Stern has refused to take a paternity test.
But Birkhead, who used to date Smith, is also claiming to be Dannielynn's dad. It was his bevy of attorneys that requested Korda obtain a DNA sample from Dannielynn so that her paternity can be determined.
Birkhead first filed a paternity suit in California. He is asking Korda to enforce the ruling of a California judge requiring a DNA sample from Dannielynn.
The lawyers representing Birkhead argued Friday morning that the California judge compelled the Florida court to obtain the baby's DNA for paternity testing. The California judge is "asking you to rubber stamp his order in Florida so Dannielynn can find her way home," Birkhead's California attorney, Debra Opri, told Korda.
But Korda said he doesn't think California has jurisdiction over this matter either, saying that California "can't give me what they don't have." Korda said he would call the judge in California to discuss the paternity tests. "It may be two people talking who have no jurisdiction over the child to begin with," Korda warned.
Birkhead and his team of attorneys plan to leave for the Bahamas today to argue for custody of Dannielynn.
Smith, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year, U.S. Supreme Court litigant and E! reality TV star, B-movie actress and notorious tabloid character, died Feb. 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. She was 39. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
She stood to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars from her late husband J. Howard Marshall II, who found her in a strip club and married her when he was 89. He left behind a $1.6 billion fortune when he died in 1995.
Before her death, Smith was engaged in litigation with Marshall's son over his fortunes. Dannielynn stands to inherit this fortune if Smith's estate prevails in the litigation.
