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Dannielynn's DNA Taken for a Ride

Thu., Mar. 22, 2007 7:37 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Don't blame Howard K. Stern for holding up the proceedings. It's genetic.

Anna Nicole Smith's paramour is reportedly appealing a Bahamian justice's order to submit Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern for DNA testing, despite the fact that the test has already been performed, according to several media outlets.

MSNBC said that Stern, who is listed as Dannielynn's father on her birth certificate, took the six-month-old to a doctor's office in the Bahamas Wednesday and, although a court-imposed gag order prevents the various factions from discussing the case publicly, the general consensus is that the baby girl was on the scene so that a mouth swab could be taken.

Larry Birkhead also visited the same doctor's office Wednesday morning to submit his own DNA, according to TMZ.com. Stern is exempt from testing for now because, since he's on the birth certificate, he's daddy until proven otherwise.

At the same time, legal sources close to the tangled web said that Stern's attorneys were drawing up papers to object to Justice Stephen Isaacs' ruling. However, Stern's appeal will probably not be heard until next week and, according to MSNBC, the results from the DNA tests could be ready as early as Friday.

So, Stern would have to somehow prove that the sample was improperly taken from Dannielynn in order to get it thrown out.

"I gather they are shooting for Monday," a source told Reuters regarding Stern's latest action.

Meanwhile, the samples that were presumably taken Wednesday are reportedly on their way to a lab in Columbus, Ohio, where latex-gloved technicians will hopefully be able to provide an answer to one of the more pressing questions to be asked on tabloid covers in recent years.

Of course, several other men, including Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, have also come forward as possible fathers to Dannielynn, but common sense—what remains in this case, anyway—has nearly all of its eggs in the Birkhead-Stern basket.

But even if the paternity saga comes to a close (minus custody issues, financial support and all of the other details that will need hammering out, of course), Anna Nicole Smith's name will still be gracing plenty of legal documents in the weeks and months to come.

Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper said Thursday that he'll be releasing the results of Smith's autopsy on Monday, nearly two weeks after he said he had determined the cause of her death but was waiting for authorities to conclude their investigation.

Seminole tribal police had asked Perper to review two additional pieces of evidence before issuing his report.

A news conference has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT.

In other legal news, records from the L.A. County Treasurer and Tax Collector show that Stern's Santa Monica-based corporation Hot Smoochie Lips—which lists Smith as president—owes $28,945 in state corporate taxes and $8,920.54 in back property taxes on the Studio City house where Smith used to live.

Smith bought the residence for $1.3 million on April 11, 2005, under her real name, Vickie Lynn Marshall, and transferred the title to Stern's company the following day.

Earlier this month, Hot Smoochie Lips' corporate status was suspended due to the unpaid bills—so, unfortunately, Stern is currently unable to conduct business under the Hot Smoochie shingle.

(Originally published Wed., Mar. 21 at 4:38 p.m. PT)