13th March
Custody Battle Into Smith’s Baby Set For This Week
By Quincy Parker
The weeklong reprieve from the unstinting coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith saga on the front pages of the local dailies is likely to end this week, with two court battles set to play out in Supreme Court and Bahamian authorities watching developments in Florida they say may have some bearing on local proceedings.
When Ms. Smith died suddenly and under circumstances that are still the subject of speculation on February 8, she left behind a legal and law enforcement morass: a police investigation that spanned three states, a legal quagmire in Florida that turned into what many described as a circus, multifarious legal battles in The Bahamas and an infestation of paparazzi to cover it all.
One higher-up, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Journal that Bahamian authorities are watching with great interest to hear what the two pieces of evidence are that are delaying the release of the cause of death and the results of the Broward County Medical Examiner’s autopsy.
"If both deaths had happened in Florida," the source said, "there would have been an arrest by now."
The source was referring to reports that the new evidence may have something to do with the narcotic methadone, which reportedly played a part in the death of Ms. Smith’s son Daniel Wayne on September 10, and which many suspect was in the late pin-up’s system when she died in Florida.
In the face of persistent reports that local police were continuing to question Ms. Smith’s paramour lawyer Howard K. Stern about the incidents, the Journal spoke with Wayne Munroe, who briefly represented Mr. Stern last year.
Mr. Munroe was quick to point out that he is not Mr. Stern’s lawyer – that’s Anthony McKinney, who could not be reached – but went on to detail for the Journal the extent of Mr. Stern’s dealings with the local police, as far as he knew.
"As far as I’m aware, after he made the burglary complaint they interviewed him at the station; they then interviewed him by CDU, then CDU came up to the house and it was well televised with the crime scene folk and they interviewed them again about the burglary," he said.
While he is not Mr. Stern’s attorney, Mr. Munroe is the lawyer for the Smith estate, of which Mr. Stern is the executor.
He said that he was not aware of Mr. Stern being questioned by Seminole police when they were in The Bahamas two weeks ago conducting investigations into Ms. Smith’s death.
On Wednesday, lawyers for the parties involved will battle for custody of Ms. Smith’s six-month-old daughter.
Those parties include Virgie Arthur, Ms. Smith’s estranged mother; Mr. Stern, Ms. Smith’s live-in lawyer; and Richard Milstein, court-appointed attorney for the baby.
Also joined in that battle is Larry Birkhead, the California photographer who is Ms. Smith’s ex-lover and claims to be Dannielynn’s father. Mr. Birkhead’s aim is to get a paternity test to confirm whether he is the child’s father.
The hearing is set to take place before Supreme Court Justice Stephen Isaacs.
Typically in a ‘writ action,’ which the paternity matter is, both sides of a dispute file their pleadings with the court (asking for whatever relief they want from the court), then the sides proceed to dispute resolution, which insiders say has no chance of success as things now stand.
The matter is now at the case management stage, during which stage the court makes orders as to discovery, filing of documents that have not yet been filed, answering of interrogatories, and other preparatory steps for trial.
Mr. Munroe explained again the matter of a DNA or paternity test; he did not think it possible under Bahamian jurisprudence for anyone to compel Mr. Stern to take a DNA or paternity test.
"If somebody wishes to discharge a burden, they can ask themselves to be tested," he said.
He told the Journal that Mr. Birkhead would have to do a paternity or DNA test on himself, and then ask the court to compare that with a sample of the baby’s DNA.
"And that’s very possible," Mr. Munroe said. "In our declaration filed as long ago as November I said that was possible here."
Asked whether it is possible in Bahamian law for anyone to compel Mr. Stern to do a DNA test, Mr. Munroe said, "I don’t see how they can. If he is not (the girl’s father) he has no further interest. What interest has he in who is (the father, if he isn’t)?
"There’s an interesting English case, where the English Court of Appeal ruled quite positively that someone in the position of Howard couldn’t be compelled for a very simple reason – he’s the presumed father. Unless somebody else can displace him its in the interest of the child to have a father."
In a separate matter, Senior Justice Anita Allen has set aside an entire day on Friday to hear the matters arising from the dispute over the ownership of the Horizons estate on the Eastern Road, where Ms. Smith lived with Mr. Stern from August 2006 until she died in Florida in February.
There are at least three interlocutory applications involved in that matter: one seeking to force South Carolina developer G. Ben Thompson – another reported ex-lover, and the source of the $950,000 that bought the house – to post a security for costs, as he has no assets within the jurisdiction; one to have Mr. Thompson’s application for a declaration that he is the owner of the house, and – in the alternative – one to have all the applications regarding ownership of the house consolidated.
The Journal understands that there may be other applications as well, but even before Justice Allen hears the applications, she is going to have to determine whether the actions survive.
Mr. Thompson’s lawyer, Godfrey ‘Pro’ Pinder, wants the judge to decide that any actions filed on Mr. Smith’s behalf – like her application for a declaration that she owns the house – died with her, and should therefore be thrown out.
Those involved hope for a swift resolution, but realistically speaking do not wish to suggest a timeframe.
Neither case is ready for trial yet, and until then, there is no saying how much more complicated the matters could become.
http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=11898
Check out September 21 and September 22 entries in the Day to Day Timeline here... http://www.freerepublic.com/~stlnative/
I discovered this tonight while doing a search on news reports from the Bahamas - the place is starting to look like Aruba - I am sure that I will find more as I continue my searches
I've been too busy to do anything other to reply to pings the last couple days. This is a good informative article. But did i miss something? Since when is Milstein the baby's court appointed attorney? Didn't that cease after Anna's burial?
Thanks for an interesting article on this week's custody battle.
Did you notice that RICHARD MILSTEIN is included as one of the parties involved in the custody battle??? The GAL was limited to Anna's funeral, or so I thought. I hope its an error and Milstein will have no further duties concerning Dannielynn, since he seems very biased towards Stern.
Also according to the article, Mr Munroe, the lawyer for Anna's estate, says HKS will NOT be required to have his DNA tested. Wonder if that's true.
Great article--thank you!