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The mystery surrounding the paternity of ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s baby daughter DANNIELYNN is still far from resolution, despite frenzied legal activity yesterday.

In a Los Angeles courtroom HOWARD K STERN’s lawyers argued with attorneys for Smith’s ex-boyfriend LARRY BIRKHEAD over the five-month-old in a closed hearing.

Stern’s lawyer, JAMES NEAVITT, said Superior Court Judge ROBERT A SCHNIDER declined to relinquish control over the paternity suit, insisting there were still questions pending as to which state has jurisdiction over the baby’s case.

Birkhead’s attorney, DEBRA OPRI, reportedly asked the judge to take emergency jurisdiction and have the baby brought to California. According to Neavitt, the judge denied the request.

In another development, FREDERIC VON ANHALT, the husband of actress ZSA ZSA GABOR, filed a separate paternity challenge, claiming he is the father of the baby.

Smith died at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on February 8 at the age of 39. The cause of her death is still under investigation.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

The doctor who prescribed methadone for ANNA NICOLE SMITH while she was pregnant insists his treatment for the star was “medically sound and appropriate.”

DR SANDEEP KAPOOR is currently under investigation by the Medical Board of California after documents surfaced on the internet suggesting he had prescribed methadone to Smith.

Kapoor defends his actions to US entertainment show ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, explaining, “All I can say is that she had a healthy baby girl.

“The baby didn’t have any withdrawals, the baby was healthy. So it’s obvious she was not taking drugs.”

Although he claims Smith was not taking drugs while she was pregnant, in a statement through his lawyer Kapoor claims he prescribed Smith methadone for pain management, adding that “methadone is approved for use by pregnant patients.”

Smith gave birth to daughter DANNIELYNN in the Bahamas in September.

The former Playboy Playmate was found dead in a hotel suite in Hollywood, Florida on 8 February.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

The grave of ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s son DANIEL is set to be opened up so the tragic actress/model can be buried on top of him.

If Smith’s companion, HOWARD K. STERN, wins his battle to bury his late girlfriend, he will take the remains to The Bahamas, where he lived with Anna Nicole up to her death in Florida last week.

He insists Smith wanted to be buried on a plot near her son, who died of a drug overdose last September, at Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleums, on Nassau.

But due to space restrictions at the cemetery, gravediggers will be told to bury Anna Nicole on top of her son.

One cemetery source says, “It is not uncommon to do this.”

According to insiders, Smith also asked for her baby daughter, DANNIELYNN, and Stern himself to be buried with her and Daniel when they died.

Stern is currently battling for Anna Nicole’s body with her estranged mother VIRGIE ARTHUR, who wants to take the remains back to the actress/model’s Texas and bury her there.

The body still lies in a Florida morgue awaiting further DNA tests before it can be released. Lawyers feuding over Smith’s remains agreed that a funeral director could start the embalming process as early as today.

The issue of who will be given permission to bury the remains is expected to be resolved next week.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s final movie is heading straight for a DVD release in May.

The actress produced comedy ILLEGAL ALIENS and starred in the sci-fi spoof as one of a trio of space aliens fighting an intergalactic terrorist.

Theatrical screenings scheduled for this week were cancelled following her death last Thursday, prompting director DAVID GIANCARLO to issue public fears the film would never be seen by an audience.

But bosses at MTI Home Video insist they will go ahead with their release plans.

Prior to her death, the movie was to have been dedicated to her 20-year-old son, DANIEL – an associate producer on the project who died in the Bahamas in September.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

A Los Angeles judge ruled this morning that former model ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s body could be released from a Florida medical examiner’s office.

The ruling came just hours after a Florida judge upheld an earlier California court ruling that Smith’s body be held for 10 days until DNA tests are complete.

According to Smith’s attorney RON RALE, “The judge found that there was sufficient DNA, as we had contended, that had been taken by DR PERPER, who is the chief medical examiner in Broward County.”

The former Playboy Playmate’s ex-boyfriend LARRY BIRKHEAD is fighting to prove he is the father of Smith’s baby DANNIELYNN. Birkhead’s attorney had argued that accurate DNA testing would not be possible if the body was moved from the coroner’s office.

Today’s legal decision came as the Florida coroner’s office warned that Smith’s body was decomposing and should be released as soon as possible.

Rale says Smith’s remains will be sent to her former lawyer and companion HOWARD K. STERN, who also claims he is the father of the model’s five-month-old daughter.

He adds, “We want Anna Nicole to have a proper burial. We want the process to commence so that she doesn’t lose a day.”

Stern’s attorneys are expected to appear in a Florida courtroom later today to uphold the latest decision from the California judge, saying that Smith’s body can be released.

Smith’s estranged mother, VIRGIE ARTHUR, is also fighting for the body to be released to her, so that she can take it back to her daughter’s native Texas.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s mother VIRGIE ARTHUR is fighting to remove her five-month-old granddaughter from HOWARD K. STERN’s care in a Bahamian courthouse.

Arthur flew to the Bahamas last week hoping to check on baby DANNIELYNN in the wake of Smith’s death last Thursday.

Stern recently lashed out at Arthur, who was estranged from her daughter at the time of her death, saying, “As long as I have a breath in my body, that woman will not see Dannielynn.”

Meanwhile, Arthur has also hired a Florida lawyer to help her get permission to bury her daughter.

A Los Angeles judge ruled Anna Nicole’s remains should be preserved until a DNA test next week proves conclusive, but her estranged mother wants to bury the body as soon as possible.

Attorney STEPHEN TUNSTALL has been hired to secure the body, even though there are outstanding California court orders preventing burial.

DEBRA OPRI, the attorney holding up the burial, insists she and her client, Smith’s ex-lover LARRY BIRKHEAD, have no objections to releasing the body for burial, provided he gets a DNA sample from the corpse first.

Opri fears without the sample of the mother’s DNA, Stern, the other ‘father’ in an ongoing paternity battle over Smith’s baby girl, could switch the child with his own niece.

In an interview last week, Opri said, “We had a concern because Howard K. Stern has a niece who is very similar to Dannielynn.

“We don’t want the possibility that there’s another baby being tested. We need (the DNA of) the mother, we need (the DNA of) the daughter and we need (the DNA of) Larry Birkhead.”

Meanwhile, DR JOSHUA PERPER, the Broward County, Florida medical examiner currently in charge of Smith’s remains, has filed a sworn affidavit suggesting the corpse is buried as soon as possible.

Perper states, “It is very important to promptly release the remains of VICKI LYNN MARSHALL (Smith’s real name) for the purpose of embalming and burial because the death occurred five days ago and any further delay may affect the integrity of the body and its aesthetic appearance following embalming.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

The photojournalist who has been fighting ANNA NICOLE SMITH for paternity of her baby daughter DANNIELYNN has been left devastated by the news his ex has died in Florida.

LARRY BIRKHEAD won the latest round in the battle to prove he’s the baby’s biological father on Wednesday, when a California judge demanded the model/actress submit her child for a DNA test by February 21.

But Birkhead had no idea his ex would be dead just 24 hours later.

Reached by WENN hours after his former lover had passed away in a Hollywood, Florida hospital, Birkhead says, “I just can’t speak.”

His attorney, DEBRA OPRI, who filed an emergency order for custody of Dannielynn after hearing about Smith’s death, adds, “Larry is not OK.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Playboy magazine boss HUGH HEFNER has paid tribute to his former Playmate, ANNA NICOLE SMITH, after hearing the actress/model had passed away in Florida.

Smith was found unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino by her nurse yesterday. She died shortly after arriving at the Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. She was 39. In a statement released yesterday (08FEB07), Hefner wrote, “I am very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole’s passing. She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and me personally.

“My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Smith was named Playboy Playmate of the Month in May 1992 and Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1993.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

The fall TV season has just started but already, new shows are dropping like flies.

The CBS crime drama, “Smith,” and NBC’s “Kidnapped” were the first to go.

“Smith,” which aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m., was taken off the CBS schedule “until further notice” after only three airings. The network made the announcement on Friday, and will fill the now vacant time slot with reruns of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Criminal Minds.”

The high-profile show featured an all-star cast of Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Amy Smart and Simon Baker, but was unable to maintain high ratings.

Meanwhile NBC announced on Friday that the network will air the “remaining original broadcasts” of “Kidnapped,” on always-dead Saturday nights beginning Oct. 21. The show had been scheduled in for Wednesdays at 10 p.m., but will now be filled with Dateline NBC. Based on the network’s statement, it doesn’t appear NBC will be ordering new episodes any time soon.

“Kidnapped” was last week’s least-watched drama series, pulling in just 6.3 million viewers.

The Red Green Show will film its last episode on Nov. 5 in Toronto, bringing an end to its 15-year run on CBC.

Comedian Steve Smith created and starred in the show featuring a repairman whose philosophy is that ?if the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.?

It attracts one million viewers every Friday night, and is filmed in Harbourside Studios before a live audience, many of whom wear plaid shirts and bring rolls of duct tape to fit in with the Possum Lodge atmosphere. A fan club boasts 100,000 members.

Even after 300 episodes, Smith insists he won?t miss his beloved Red Green.

?I won’t miss him, not even slightly,? he said in an interview with the Hamilton Spectator. ?It’s been so great, honestly, it’s all positive memories for me, and if I felt sad, it would be kind of like I’m greedy, that I wanted more of that. I don’t think there is more. I don’t think there could be more and I sure don’t need more or expect more.?

Smith added that the final episode will reveal what happens to the characters long after viewers have bid farewell to Possum Lodge.

?It will be a kind of where-are-they-now thing where we fast-forward 10 years ahead,? Smith says. ?I really want the fans to feel satisfied and know what happened to the characters, and that everybody’s OK and the lodge still exists somewhere. It’s just not on TV anymore.?
The last show will air in March.