Porn star Devon James (real name: Melinda Jannette) has filed a paternity suit against golfer Tiger Woods in Manatee County, Florida. Her petition asks the court to determine parentage of her nine-year-old son, Austin Brinling.

If Woods is determined to be the child’s father, the court then has jurisdiction to establish child support and child custody.

Interestingly, the petition for determination of paternity was a handwritten, fill-in-the-blanks form from the clerk’s office and was apparently filed without assistance of counsel. It seems unlikely that James could not find a family law attorney willing to help her file the suit.

Some light, though, may be shed on that circumstance by a look at the court records of Manatee County. Back in 2002, the Florida Department of Revenue filed a paternity petition on behalf of Austin Brinling. That suit was filed against a man named Pele LaCruz Watkins. The state can file to establish paternity when it has assisted a child financially in some way. For example, if the mother or other guardian of the child received any sort of welfare, Medicare or other government assistance, the state will look to establish legal parentage in order for child support to be paid (hopefully, removing the need for state financial assistance for the child).

Watkins was determined to be Austin’s father in that proceeding by default – although it is not clear whether he ever took a DNA test. Watkins was ordered to pay child support.

TMZ.com reports that James’ mother currently has custody of Austin and that she says there is a DNA test showing Watkins as the biological father. James does not believe her mother has any DNA results and her spokesperson says she wants Tiger to submit to DNA testing. She says that she and Tiger met in Hawaii where she was visiting with golfer Paul Azinger’s family and that they carried on a two-year relationship.  (This would appear to precede his relationship with now-estranged wife Elin Nordegren.)

Meanwhile, Watkins is incarcerated in a federal prison for conspiring to commit arson on a Florida strip club. (Seriously. I can’t make this stuff up…)

Library Topics: paternity, child support, child custody, DNA test

See Also:

• Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Reportedly Renegotiate Prenup