Justin Bieber paternity lawsuit dropped

Mariah Yeater has dropped her paternity suit against Justin Bieber, her lead attorney said Wednesday, though he maintained that the San Diego woman is still pressing her claim that the pop star fathered her child.

"This case was never dismissed. It can be refiled today or tomorrow," Yeater's new attorney Jeffrey Leving of Chicago told The Associated Press.

TMZ said early Wednesday that Yeater, 20, had quietly dropped her lawsuit last week after Bieber attorney Howard Weitzman announced that the singer, 17, would take a paternity test and possibly file a countersuit.

Bieber's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik told Newsday in a statement, "As we've said from the beginning, it's sad that someone would fabricate such a malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claim. We'll continue to consider all of our options to protect Justin."

"She believes Justin Bieber is the father," Leving told Chicago TV station WGN. "Negotiations are going on right now with Bieber's counsel and we're trying to negotiate a private, secure DNA test."

He told the AP, "I will state right now it's better that it's handled out of court, which is in the best interests of everybody."

Yeater, 20, of Southern California, had claimed in her lawsuit that she had sex backstage with the 17-year-old Canadian singer last year and that he was the father of her baby, who was born in July. She was demanding child support.