Anna Nicole's DNA Deadline

Tue., Jan. 2, 2007 2:08 PM PST by Gina Serpe

After months of public posturing and a legal tug-o-war, TrimSpa pitcher Anna Nicole Smith has finally been ordered to submit her four-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, to a paternity test by Jan. 23.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider issued the deadline Tuesday, two weeks after he first ruled in favor of Smith's ex-boyfriend, photographer Larry Birkhead.

Birkhead sued Smith in October, claiming he was the rightful father of Dannielynn and accusing Smith and her lawyer/committed partner, Howard K. Stern, with fraud and conspiracy after the couple listed Stern as the father on Dannielynn's birth certificate.

Per the court order, trumpeted in a press release by Birkhead attorney Debra Opri, Smith and Birkhead can submit to DNA swabs to the lab of their choice.

Smith, who now lives in the Bahamas, was not reachable for comment Tuesday. However, her lawyer, Ron Rale, said she would comply with the order.

Until recently, the model's camp had engaged in a spirited battle with Opri, arguing (a) that Birkhead was not the father and (b) that the California courts had no jurisdiction in the matter because of her Bahamian residence. Smith, 39, set up base in Nassau shortly before the Sept. 7 birth of Dannielynn and the death of her son, Daniel, three days later.

But in November, Schnider ruled that he did have jurisdiction since Smith had recently worked, lived and had a sexual relationship, with Birkhead, in California.

Birkhead, 32, whose suit alleges that Stern is claiming paternity strictly for financial gain and that he's helping facilitate Smith's purported methadone addiction, is seeking physical and legal custody of Dannielynn.

Last month, Rale said despite the DNA ruling, parts of Birkhead's lawsuit were dismissed, though he declined to discuss particulars.

Birkhead said he was pleased by the judge's ruling, adding that he decided to go to court after Stern appeared on CNN and proclaimed he was the father.

"He went on Larry King Live and said if he and Anna Nicole were legally compelled to take a paternity test, they would. Now he's legally compelled," Birkhead told E! Online.

"Let's see if he can put Anna Nicole's money where his mouth is."