Court TV Host: A Florida judge ordered that more DNA samples be taken from the body of Anna Nicole Smith Thursday at the request of one of several men claiming paternity of her infant daughter. Discuss today's hearing with Linda Kenney Baden, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor and author of "Remains Silent." She was just on Courtside, and she's joining us here now.

Court TV Host: Welcome, Linda Kenney Baden, thanks for being our guest online today.

Linda Kenney Baden: I hope the general public doesn't get the wrong idea about what happens to a person when they die. Usually, in most cases, there are not many lawyers involved, and no fights over burying a body of a loved one. What everyone should be aware of is that this is not the normal common procedure, should one of your loved ones die.

Question from odeeo: Linda, have you ever seen a circus like this before?

Linda Kenney Baden: The answer is no. I have been involved as a forensic attorney in several probate actions, including one that I'm handling now that has gone on for seven years. However, usually there is agreement that the person who has died be allowed to rest in peace quickly and that the family members and loved ones of that person be allowed to grieve in a normal, funereal process. Here, it appears that everyone is trying to get some type of position in order to claim parental rights or guardianship rights over a child who may stand to inherit a lot of money. That is not normal, and if Anna Nicole were of a different religious persuasion the delay of her burial could have a significant impact on the family.

Question from Mimmi: Who legally has a right to her body?

Linda Kenney Baden: This is actually a good question, because what you are asking is: who has the right to make decisions regarding her burial? The answer is both simple and complicated. Usually, it is the next of kin, starting with a child who is over 18. Then, if there is no child, it's the mother and father. Then, if there is no mother or father, then brothers and sisters. If there is a spouse, however, that would trump the family right to make decisions regarding burial. In this case, there is no spouse. However, if there is a will normally the executor who is the person that is given the authority by the deceased when the deceased was alive, makes the burial and funeral arrangements, and since the will does not have to recognize next of kin then the executor can in some states trump or overcome the rights of the next of kin. If there is no will, or there is a dispute, and the case has come into court, as has happened here, the judge is also required to look at the desire of the deceased as expressed when the deceased person was alive. This is commonly called "testamentary intent." It is being argued in this case that Anna Nicole Smith had expressed a desire to be buried next to her son Daniel and that she even bought a second burial plot to demonstrate this intent. This could end up being very important to the judge in determining who should have control over the body, or the judge may decide that a specific person should have control over the body, but be required to bury the person next to her son, if that was her desire. The probate court is the court that deals with death and inheritance, which is a court of equity - that means that the judge has powers that are beyond those that exist in the statute and can do what he believes is fair and right. This judge may even be able to decide who the father of the minor child Danielynn is in order to make a determination as to who is next of kin under Florida statute for the purpose of burial. That is why this case is both simple and complicated.

Question from hammy: Linda, how does the paternity question pan out at this stage when Stern is already listed on the child's birth certificate?

Linda Kenney Baden: Technically, under most jurisdictions, he is the father, unless and until a court determines otherwise. Since Danielynn is without doubt the only surviving child of Anna Nicole Smith and since she is under 18, then her father may be the one to express her desires concerning her mother's burial. We saw the court today appoint a guardian ad litem for the child on this issue even though we know the child cannot yet speak. If Howard K. Stern is declared to be definitely the father, then there is no need for a guardian, and Stern would be able to express to the court the child's wishes and follow through with Anna Nicole's desires as she set forth under her will. So paternity enters the situation through he backdoor.

Question from mrsplants: What if there is no will?

Linda Kenney Baden: If there is no will then the rights to the inheritance are determined by the statute of the state that the will would have been probated under. Or the laws of the country of which she was a resident. These will all be open issues in this case, because there is no doubt in my mind that if the will is offered for probate anywhere, the validity of that will is going to be challenged by others who could inherit. Therefore, even if she had a will, her estate may still end up being distributed as if there is no will, if a successful challenge is made. Additionally, I imagine there will be a challenge if there is a will to the appointment of Howard Stern as an executor because the executor takes a percentage of monies for administering the estate and if an estate is worth $88 million, that could be a value of $5 - 6 million alone.

Question from court-reporter1: How in the world is the court reporter actually making a record of that horrible hearing with all the lawyers talking at once and the judge constantly interrupting?

Linda Kenney Baden: Usually, in chambers, hearings are tape-recorded, and that is why attorneys had to announce who they were in the beginning and who they represented. The judge indicated that tomorrow he will move to the court room because it was very difficult, i thought, as a viewer to determine who was talking , because we were seeing mostly the backs of their heads. But this type of free for all in a judge's chamber conference area, when there are cases dealing with a large number of attorneys and in high profile cases, judges generally want to let everyone speak and make a record, so there can be no attack on the judicial system that there wasn't a forum for all parties.

Question from hammy: Linda why would several samples of DNA from Anna be required when one report could be shared by all claiming to be the father? That does not make sense?

Linda Kenney Baden: At every autopsy the medical examiner takes samples from various sections of the body. These are tissue samples. They are generally of the heart, the lung, the brain, and other organs that may be relevant to a determination of a cause and manner of death. Usually, it is from these tissue samples that DNA is extracted. Here, for some reason, the attorneys for Larry Birkhead wanted to take a "buccal" swab, which is a swab from the inside of the cheek for skin cells. Just as an aside, everyone should know that the only cell in the body that does not have DNA in it is the red blood cell. Here, you are correct, the medical examiner had plenty of tissue samples from which to take DNA but the attorneys may have been looking to make sure that all types of samples were taken because they have further testing issues in mind. For instance, Anna Nicole Smith's natural hair looked to be about 12 inches or so long. If a number of the strands of the hair are removed from the root intact, then someone could test for any drug she was taking over a period of time. Hair grows at about a half an inch a month and by taking segments of it and performing what is called segmental analysis you could look to see whether she had been on narcotics or other drugs for a period of about two years. I suspect that the samples that are going to be looked at to determine whether they are adequate go beyond tissue samples for DNA determination.

Question from kiara: Ms. Baden, how critical is Anna Nicole's Bahamian residency to the custody issue?

Linda Kenney Baden: The issue of which jurisdiction controls is always a big issue in the law and if the paternity law in the Bahamas favors a person who is listed on the birth certificate, then it could be crucial, because, assuming Howard K Stern is not the father, he would argue that Bahamian law would apply and not California or Florida law. I am aware that in the Bahamas that for purposes of inheriting your parents' estate, that if you are on the birth certificate, it is considered unassailable that you are a child for purposes of inheritance. However, it does not automatically mean that you are a parent for the purposes of a paternity fight and there appears to be a lot of confusion about this issue in media reports that I have read.

Question from mrsplants: What if they find out that Howard K. Stern helped murder her by letting her have her drugs?

Linda Kenney Baden: The medical examiner has to find out first what killed Anna Nicole Smith. If it is determined that it is a drug overdose, the drug overdose could be considered accidental or suicidal. But if it is determined that someone gave her the drugs improperly or illegally, then the medical examiner could rule the death a homicide, which means death at the hands of another. If Anna Nicole died of illegal drugs, or illegally obtained drugs, whoever obtained those drugs could be charged with a criminal act. There are some jurisdictions that would charge that type of case as a manslaughter case, others would charge it as murder and sometimes the DA would make no charges, depending on the facts of each case. But there is no doubt that should the ME rule this as a homicide, the fingers would be pointed at a third party and we have already seen suggestions of finger-pointing against Howard Stern for being an enabler of Anna Nicole Smith's behavior. At this point, we do not know whether this is true and should wait for further investigations and findings before we rush to rumor and judgment.