ANNA NICOLE SMITH - BIRKHEAD'S ATTORNEY EXPLAINS BABY SWITCH CONCERNS

LATEST: Photojournalist LARRY BIRKHEAD's attorney fears ANNA NICOLE SMITH's partner HOWARD K. STERN will switch babies in a desperate attempt to win the paternity battle over the model/actress' daughter. Lawyer DEBRA OPRI lost her bid to obtain DNA from the corpse of Smith yesterday (09FEB07) and was accused of being "disrespectful" by attorneys representing Stern and Smith. But Opri insists she had to try and make sure the baby who will be submitted for DNA testing on 20 February (07) - when the paternity battle will be decided - is Smith's daughter DANNIELYNN, and not Stern's lookalike niece. Opri explains, "We had a concern because Howard K. Stern has a niece who is very similar to Dannielynn. "We don't want the possibility that there's another baby being tested. We need (the DNA of) the mother, we need (the DNA of) the daughter and we need (the DNA of) Larry Birkhead."