A Florida judge on Wednesday rejected Larry Birkhead's request for a DNA sample from Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, whom Birkhead said he fathered.

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However, family court Judge Lawrence Korda said he would assist the California judge hearing the paternity case Birkhead filed there with DNA evidence from Smith if it is necessary, TMZ.com said.

Korda ordered the DNA already extracted from Smith's body be preserved should it be needed by Judge Robert Schneider of Los Angeles County Superior Court to decide the paternity between Larry Birkhead, Smith's ex-lover, and Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion listed on the child's birth certificate and claiming to be the father.

Smith died Feb. 8 of unknown causes in a Florida hospital where she was taken after being found unresponsive in her hotel room.