Posted on 02/09/2007 9:51:04 AM PST by pabianice
The bizzare saga of Anna Nicole Smith just got stranger. Two of Smith's lawyers are on TV now answering press questions. Birkhead's request for an emergency DNA test of the baby has been denied. When one of Smith's lawyers was asked about the ruling, he said that 'DNA is not necessarily conclusive,' which is news to me. Both Birkhead and Smith contend that they are the baby's father, and the two most likely executors of a fortune worth $1.6 billion.
The judge ruled he cannot rule on any emergency petition because he believes the case is under Bahamian jurisdiction.
One of Smith's attorneys then got even wierder by saying that 'there as some allegations that the baby's hair has been dyed,' suggesting an attempt to alter its appearance re. paternity.
This case looks like the Tabloid Full Employment Act of 2007. I feel bad for the baby.
As in who?
Zsa Zsa's husband?
The family that was after the money was the family of the old man's step son, who died in June. I just think that there have been way too many deaths related to that money and that no one should have access to it, but to spend on care of the baby.
has the baby appeared on Oprah yet?
As long as the baby's undisputed mother was alive, the Bahamian government wouldn't have any reason to interfere with the decisions that the mother was making -- which apparently consisted of endorsing whatever Stern wanted to do. As far as I know, no US court has requested that the baby be returned to the US. That's likely to change very soon, and I don't think there's any reason to expect the Bahamian government to refuse to comply, in deference to the wishes of the non-Bahamian citizen, not-definitely-the-father Stern.
Extradition is not the right term for what our courts would order for the baby's return, though I'm not sure what is. If Stern interfered with the implementation of such an order, he would be committing a crime under US law, and would be subject to extradition. I'm virtually positive that the Bahamas is not one of the countries that doesn't honor child custody orders from the country of which the child is a citizen. I expect that Stern would be treated like Allison Quets, charged with kidnapping and extradited, if he did not return the baby to the US upon a court order to do so (presumably the order would actually go to the Bahamian government, but Stern appears to be the only one in a position to interfere with the baby's return).
Both her parents (assuming one of the two primary father-claimants is the father) are US citizens. To have Bahamian citizenship at birth, she would have to have at least one Bahamian citizen parent. Even then, if the other parent was a US citizen, she would have dual citizenship. Very few countries' laws make a person a citizen just by being born there.
http://www.multiplecitizenship.com/wscl/ws_BAHAMAS.html
So we're about the only ones?
Nice.
We need to end the anchor baby issue...but that's a topic for another thread.
OMG, you could be right! As Dickens wrote "The law is an ass", but surely not that big an ass!
The baby IS a US citizen, and has no other citizenship. Being born in the Bahamas does not make one a Bahamian citizen. Being born to US citizen parents (even just one) DOES make one a US citizen.
Actually, his statement that DNA is not conclusive is itself conclusive, but not in his client's favor.
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
Gag me.
Person (18 years or older), born in the Bahamas, but whose parents were not citizens of the Bahamas. Person (18 years or older), born in wedlock outside the Bahamas to a Bahamian mother. Child adopted by Bahamian citizens.
See Tag Line... WWSD
I don't understand the point of your post. The baby is not 18 years or older, so she does not have Bahamian citizenship, though she will have the right to register for it and become a Bahamian citizen at any time between her 18th and 21st brithdays. Meanwhile she is a citizen of the US only (unless some citizen of the Bahamas or of some third country turns up and it able to prove biological paternity). My understanding is that the Bahamian government's current position is that the man on the birth certificate -- US citizen Howard K. Stern -- is the legal father.
Not according to the summary of Bahamian citizenship laws that I linked. She currently does not have Bahamian citizenship, but will have the right to become one at 18 if she registers for it. If she hasn't registered for it by age 21, she loses the right. Meanwhile she is a US citizen. BUT from the current perspective of the Bahamian government, Stern is her legal father by virtue of his name being on her birth certificate. Until a US court rules differently, and informs the Bahamian government that it has done so, the Bahamian government will presume her to be in the legal custody of her father (Stern). Until and unless that has happened, absent a formal demand from a US court to send the child and/or Stern back to the US, there's really nothing the Bahamian government can or should do. I still haven't heard of any such order emanating from a US court (presumably it's forthcoming though).
there, fixed it....
well 1 in a billion million is technically not 100% conclusive........
Giggle Giggle
Indeed. Stern is probably the toast of the American Bar Association right now, sadly.
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