A judge on Friday denied a man's request to exhume the body of late country star Eddy Arnold for DNA testing to prove he is the singer's illegitimate son.
Davidson County Probate Judge Randy Kennedy said his court lacked legal jurisdiction to exhume Arnold's body unless both parties agreed.
Christopher Edward Tanner, 48, of Anaheim, California, filed his paternity claim in June, a month after Arnold died at 89. He claims his mother, Arlene Tanner-Glynn, was romantically involved with Arnold while working as a record company secretary in the late 1950s.
Arnold's family says Arnold, perhaps best known for his 1965 hit "Make the World Go Away," denied fathering Tanner.
Brock East, Tanner's attorney, said the paternity claim wasn't filed sooner because Tanner wrongly believed the statute of limitations had expired.
Brock also said Tanner and his mother had spoken with Arnold over the years and "were led to believe that ultimately he would be acknowledged as his son."
Tanner first sought tissue samples for DNA testing, but when none were available, he requested Arnold's body be exhumed.
"Ultimately, my client sees this as a last chance to know who his father is," East said before the hearing. East declined comment after the judge's ruling.
But Marlene Eskind Moses, attorney for the Arnold estate, argued there are no legal grounds for the court to exhume a body in a paternity case.
"The family has no obligation to exhume the body for anyone who claims they are an heir," she said.
Afterward, Moses said she was pleased with the ruling.
"Mr. Arnold was loved and revered by this community and his good name shouldn't be tarnished, and certainly not so after his death," she said. "We hope this is the end of it."