Daniel Smith's Femme-Fueled Inquest On Hold

Looks like it's ladies choice in the Bahamas.

At least in terms of what or who bears responsibility for the death of Daniel Smith.

After a brief break from proceedings, the inquest into the Sept. 10 passing of Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son is inching back toward a resolution, with a jury of seven women selected to determine Daniel's cause of death.

Though not if Howard K. Stern, who is wary of any existing bias the jurors might be harboring, has anything to say about it.

Bahamian Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez approved the femme-fueled panel Thursday, assigning them the task of listening to testimony and evidence from more than 40 witnesses and ultimately deciding whether Daniel's death last fall was an accident, a suicide or a homicide.

Should the jury opt for the latter, they will then turn over their non-legally binding decision to the Bahamian District Attorney, who will go on to decide whether or not charges against any individuals will be filed.

The women were randomly selected by Gomez over a span of just 10 minutes, according to Court TV, after he literally picked their names from a box marked with the words "Jurors raffle."

Just six of the women were sworn in on a Bible, while the seventh woman simply raised her hand to indicate that she would consider all evidence in a fair and impartial manner.

Jury selection began—and ended—today despite requests by several involved parties to halt the process. Stern's attorney Anthony McKinney filed the first appeal of the jury selection process, requesting the ability to individually question jurors for bias in the case, though his objection was dismissed. As it is, Bahamian law places the onus of jury selection entirely at the discretion of the judge.

However, a subsequent appeal filed by Stern seems to have made some headway.

The legally embattled Stern succeeded in appealing the impartiality of a jury in the case after claiming that it was impossible to impanel a group of people who would give the inquest a fair shake as a result of the near-hysterical coverage of the Smith saga.

Gomez has allowed Stern's lawyer, Wayne Munroe, to take his argument to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas and seek to have the hearing permanently blocked.

To allow for the legal wrangling, Gomez has postponed the inquest proceedings by at least two weeks, instructing jurors to return to court on Apr. 11.

Prior to selecting the women, Gomez attempted some semblance of impartiality, weeding out potentially problematic jurors in his own way.

"This case has been bombarded with news coverage," he said in the courtroom. "If you feel your mind is so clogged with prejudice, please disqualify yourself."

Apparently, none of the women were so clogged, as they all opted to stay in the would-be juror mix.

The inquest is expected to last between three and four weeks, whenever it eventually starts back up. 

The case was due to resume today after a two-day moratorium on all legal proceedings caused by Munroe and Stern's appeal

Per Bahamian law, no one involved in the case has been allowed to speak out on the exact nature of the closed-door motion, though it was stated in court that it "relates to the impaneling of a jury to act on this inquiry."

The formal investigation has had its share of hiccups over the past six months. The inquest was originally scheduled to take place last October, though Gomez rescheduled the proceedings after the country's chief coroner was removed from her post and the procedure to deal with inquests was reworked.

Among the witnesses expected to testify in the monthlong inquest are Stern, Larry Birkhead, Cyril Wecht, a private pathologist who performed an autopsy on Daniel shortly after his death, and friends, family and acquaintances of the boy. Interviews done with Anna Nicole in the wake of her son's death are also expected to be submitted as evidence.

Wecht announced last fall that the 20-year-old's sudden death was the result of a fatal combination of several prescription medications, including antidepressants and Methadone, but as he was privately hired, his findings were not acknowledged by the Bahamian government.

Meanwhile, Stern is logging even more court time in his paternity case, in which he's fighting Birkhead to prove he's the father of six-month-old Dannielynn.

According to Entertainment Tonight, Stern, who voluntarily submitted to DNA tests for himself and Dannielynn last week, filed an appeal Wednesday in the case. He now claims that Birkhead failed to provide any evidence proving that he, not Stern, was the father and that the court should therefore not have issued a recommendation for him to undergo testing.

As it is, a gag order has been placed on the tests and the men are due back in court on Apr. 3.