LATEST: ANNA NICOLE SMITH's lawyer has fired back at attorneys representing the model's ex-boyfriend after they expressed concern her baby might be switched for an upcoming paternity test.
Photojournalist LARRY BIRKHEAD's lawyer DEBRA OPRI told reporters this morning (09FEB07) she was worried Smith's partner and his legal team might employ a "bait and switch" tactic to further hamper her client's paternity claims.
The 'bait and switch' is legal slang for a paternity test on the wrong baby conducted to get an incorrect reading concerning the child's genetics.
At a press conference in Los Angeles, Opri stated, "We do not want a bait and switch. It is a legitimate legal concern that the baby being tested is Anna Nicole's." The suggestion has angered RONALD A RALE, the lawyer representing the late star and her partner HOWARD K. STERN, who claims he's the biological father of baby DANNIELYNN.
Rale says, "That's a bunch of nonsense... There were allegations before that Anna Nicole dyed the baby's hair! There's been one circus allegation after another." Following the death of Smith yesterday (08JAN07), her five-month-old baby remains in The Bahamas, where Smith and her partner Stern have been living since last summer (06).