An attorney for the temporary special administrator of Charles Manson’s estate told a judge Friday that he is unsure if a Florida man who says he is the grandson of the late cult leader will agree to DNA testing to prove his kinship, despite the man’s past statement that he would if ordered to do so by a court.

During a hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Clifford Klein, lawyer Alan Davis said he does not represent the purported Manson grandson, 43-year-old Jason Freeman, and cannot speak for him. Davis is the lawyer for the temporary special administrator, attorney Dale Kiken.

Former Manson penpal Michael Channels won a favorable ruling on Aug. 30 when Klein granted Channels’ motion to compel the DNA testing of Freeman. However, Channels’ lawyer, Timothy Lyons, told the judge that the company chosen to do the testing, DNA Diagnostics Center, needs an actual court order before they will do the work.

Klein said the order should be prepared by Channels’ attorneys and he will sign it.

Freeman told the judge last December that he would not voluntarily agree to DNA testing, but would obey a court order to do so.

Lyons said after Friday’s hearing that he was surprised at Davis’ statement that Freeman may not concur to have DNA testing. He said that if Freeman does not go along with Klein’s order, he will seek to have it enforced in his home state of Florida.

Meanwhile, Kiken will remain in his previously appointed role as temporary special administrator over Manson’s estate at least through the next hearing date of Dec. 5. Kiken originally was appointed to the role in August 2018, giving him authority to protect Freeman’s interests.

Kiken is tasked with recovering property, on behalf of Freeman, that Manson left behind in prison when he died at age 83 on Nov. 19, 2017, at Bakersfield Mercy Hospital of heart failure triggered by colon cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.

In his court papers, Channels said Manson’s 2002 will, filed in Kern County in November 2017, names him as the executor of Manson’s estate. A trial will be held on the competing petitions by Kiken and Channels to be the estate’s permanent administrator. A trial date has not been set.

Freeman won a significant court victory when a Kern County commissioner ruled in March 2018 that he was entitled to Manson’s remains. Freeman and Kiken maintain that the Manson will Channels alleges is authentic is actually a forgery.

Davis said the Kern County order established that Freeman was Manson’s grandson. He also said that in February 1986, an Ohio judge found that Freeman was the son of Charles Manson Jr., who committed suicide in June 1993.

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