JUDGE DENIES LARRY BIRKHEAD IN ANNA NICOLE SMITH PATERNITY CASE

Larry Birkhead With Anna Nicole Smith

A Los Angeles judge denied a motion by Smith’s former boyfriend asking that Smith’s partner would be forced to immediately give a sample of his DNA for the ongoing paternity case. TMZ.com reported that photographer Larry Birkhead , the late model’s former boyfriend, one of the men who claim to be Smith’s baby’s father, asked a judge to make Howard K. Stern come to California and submit to DNA testing to determine exactly who Dannielynn Stern's father really is. After the hearing, Birkhead’s attorney, Debra Opri said she was confident that Stern, who is listed as the baby’s father in her birth certificate, would be made to come to California. "Put up or shut up, that's what we're asking for," Opri said. She also said Stern "can't hide behind a fake birth certificate" and that his "feet will be held to the fire." However, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider denied Birkhead’s motion, but left the possibility that he could change his mind later this month, open. He asked instead that both sides would present their arguments during the next hearing which will take place in Los Angeles on March 28. Associated Press reported that Ron Rale, a lawyer who had represented Smith argued against the DNA request, saying Stern's name is already on the birth certificate as the father. "Howard Stern doesn't have to go to Larry Birkhead for anything," Rale said. Birkhead, for his part, said, "I'm just doing what I have to do for my daughter," and that for him, holding Dannielynn for the first time in the Bahamas "was like being in the delivery room." Birkhead said he has made no agreement with Stern about the child. "My daughter is not for sale," he said. "I've been putting a nursery together so I'm smiling," he told reporters. "I'm in a good mood. "There's one way to end it. I'm prepared to take the test. I've always been prepared to take the test. Ever since Anna Nicole Smith gave birth to Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern in the Bahamas, three days before her son, Daniel, died, Birkhead claimed he was the father, not Stern who is listed in the birth certificate. Initially, Schnider ruled in Birkhead's favor on December 21. Rale has said the judge wanted the testing done by Feb. 21 but the case was stalled when Anna Nicole Smith died of unknown causes on February 8, in a Florida hotel room.

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