The battle for her body

After days of sniping at each other, days of taunts and bitter recriminations, the warring parties unified barely hours after Judge Seidlin’s ruling on Thursday. There they were arm in arm on the courthouse steps on first name terms.

Larry Birkhead, outside the courthouse: He’s saying that he’s—Howard’s saying that he’s just very glad that Anna’s wishes are carried out.

After the judge’s decision, Anna’s feuding family and friends had their own to announce she would be buried in the Bahamas, alongside her beloved son.

Larry Birkhead: It’s in her best interest to come together and get this thing worked out for her best interest and lay her to rest.

It looked as if Judge Seidlin had worked a miracle.

Dan Abrams, NBC chief legal correspondent: He was able to figure out a way to make most of the people in the case satisfied with the ruling.

But that doesn’t mean these combatants are ready to give up the battle. There is still a raging dispute over Anna Nicole’s baby.

Hoda Kotb, Dateline correspondent: What is at stake here, what is this really all about?

Abrams: Who gets custody of Dannielynn.  But there’s the subtext, which is who gets custody of a very wealthy little girl.

At a paternity hearing Friday, attorneys for Anna Nicole’s former boyfriend Larry Birkhead pressed a different Florida judge to get the baby’s DNA as soon as possible.

Birkhead attorney: We’re asking both to turn over the DNA to Dr. Baird and also to order this child to be tested.

Susan Filan, MSNBC legal analyst: They want these tests done. They want them done now.

But the judge, family court’s Lawrence Korda, whose mild demeanor is in stark contrast to Judge Seidlin’s, isn’t sure the matter even belongs in his courtroom.

Judge Korda: The first thing the court needs to do is to take a look at why me, why here? What jurisdiction do I have?

Noting this little girl has spent her entire life in the Bahamas, the judge suggested that is where paternity should be decided. But Larry Birkhead’s attorneys are convinced that the laws in Florida are more favorable to the biological father than the laws in the Bahamas. You see, in the Bahamas, whoever the mother names on the birth certificate can be the custodial parent — whether the DNA matches or not. 

After promising to consider their arguments over the weekend, the judge ended the hearing quickly, taking a subtle dig at Judge Seidlin.

Judge Korda: I’m not open, wide open for questioning such as you may be used to.(laughter)

So where does it all stand?

That agreement among Anna’s loved ones to bury her in the Bahamas proved fleeting. Late Friday afternoon, her mother filed an emergency motion to stay Judge Seidlin’s decision.

So, Anna Nicole remains in limbo at the medical examiner’s office. Nothing is resolved and so much remains at stake:  Anna Nicole’s final resting place, her daughter’s future, and the answer to who will lay claim to what could be millions.

Filan: This case is crazy on so many levels, the legal issues presented, the tragedy involved and the characters. It’s probably one of the craziest cases ever.

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