Birkhead testifies about Smith's drug use

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Larry Birkhead said in a Florida courtroom Thursday he went along with Anna Nicole Smith's wish to become pregnant, even though she used prescription drugs.

Birkhead, who claims to have fathered Smith's 5-month-old daughter, testified in a Broward County, Fla., courtroom in a hearing on where Smith will be buried, the Miami Herald said.

He testified he tried to get Smith off of drugs, even taking her medication away from her.

Birkhead said he was asked by Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion who also claims to be the child's father, to say that he, Birkhead, was not the father of Dannielynn.

"Back in May when it was announced Anna was pregnant ... Mr. Stern told me to deny I was the father," Birkhead said.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin declined to consider paternity issues. Birkhead filed suits in California and Florida for DNA tests.

Seidlin commented on how it seemed Smith pushed away Birkhead and her mother, Virgie Arthur, when each tried to get Smith to stop using drugs.

He said Smith didn't reject Stern, who Seidlin said could be called "an enabler because he lived in the home and may have known" about her prescription drug use.