Opening statements begin in Anna Nicole trial

[gwen]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A defense attorney for Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend says his client relied on Smith's doctors to prescribe drugs for the former Playboy model.

The comments from Howard K. Stern's attorney came during opening statements of the drug conspiracy trial involving Stern and Smith's two doctors in Los Angeles.

Attorney Steven Sadow stressed to jurors that Stern was unaware it was improper to use pseudonyms on Smith's prescriptions. He also said Smith was dependent on drugs for pain but was not an addict.

Earlier in the day, a prosecutor alleged Stern and the co-defendants provided massive amounts of drugs to Smith despite being warned she was an addict.

All three have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy. They are not charged with her drug overdose death in 2007.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two doctors violated their responsibility to protect Anna Nicole Smith by prescribing massive amounts of drugs with the connivance of her lawyer-boyfriend, even though they knew she was addicted to painkillers, a prosecutor argued Wednesday.

The contention by Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose came during opening statements at the conspiracy trial of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Howard K. Stern, who are accused of providing hundreds of pills - including powerful opiates and sedatives - for the Playboy model under multiple names.

"None of it could have happened without Mr. Stern," Rose added during her two-hour presentation in Superior Court.

Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, was in the courtroom with other relatives.

Stern and the doctors have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to furnish the drugs. Each could face more than five years in prison if convicted, and the doctors would lose their medical licenses.

They are not accused of causing Smith's 2007 overdose death at age 39 - a fact that Judge Robert Perry has stressed to jurors.

He previously told panelists they must not confuse the trial with the issues in the case of Michael Jackson's doctor, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter.

"What we are trying is a legality of prescribing medication case," Perry said.

Lawyers for the doctors and Stern have suggested they were desperately trying to save the doomed model during a period when she gave birth to a daughter and lost her grown son to a drug overdose.

During her opening statement, Rose displayed pictures on a courtroom screen of prescriptions for hundreds of pills, including Dilaudid, a drug known as "hospital heroin," and methadone in pill, liquid and injectible form.

"Anna Nicole Smith took a lot of methadone for pain and she took Dilaudid on top of that," Rose said.

Jurors also were shown pictures of Eroshevich with Smith following the 2006 birth of the model's daughter, Dannielynn.

Rose said they had become close friends and the psychiatrist kept no medical records of her treatment, even though she was prescribing several drugs.

Rose also argued that Kapoor filled Smith's prescriptions, even though another doctor warned that she was an addict.

The prosecutor said Smith went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 2006, where doctors advised weaning her from drugs because of her pregnancy.

But as soon as she was released, Kapoor immediately began prescribing drugs for her again, Rose contended.

The prosecutor quoted from a diary kept by Kapoor that spoke of the "mesmerizing" effect of being with a celebrity and added: "Can she ruin me?"

Smith died of what was ruled an accidental overdose of at least nine medications at a Florida hotel.

During pretrial hearings, Rose battled to inject details of Smith's final days into the trial. But the judge wasn't persuaded.

Recently, Rose made a surprise move to add Smith as a coconspirator in the case, saying that without her craving for drugs the prescriptions would not have been written.

Kapoor's lawyer, Ellyn Garafalo, has told the judge the trial's outcome could have serious consequences for doctors and patients everywhere.

"Criminalizing a doctor's efforts to help a difficult patient is problematic," she said. "A doctor's even poor judgment is not criminal. Good faith is involved."

Authorities claim that 44 different medications were prescribed for Smith under a number of other names, including Stern's.

Dave Kettel, a former federal prosecutor who handled prescription drug cases, and is now a defense attorney, said the case may be difficult to prove because of the multiple defendants. He said prosecutors could have a hard time showing the doctors knew they were acting improperly and that one knew what the other was doing.

He also said prosecutors may have erred by naming Smith as a coconspirator.

"Despite her personal problems, people liked her," he said. "The last couple years of her life were so sad. I don't think anyone wants to blame her."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100804/D9HCSHJ80.html

[gwen]

Anna Nicole Smith Trial: Bodyguard Says Boyfriend and Doctor Supplied Drugs in Year Before Her Overdose Death

LOS ANGELES (AP) Anna Nicole Smith's bodyguard says he saw her boyfriend and a psychiatrist supply the former Playboy model with drugs as she slipped into addiction in the year before her death.


Maurice Brighthaupt - one of the last people to see Smith alive - testified Friday in the trial of Howard K. Stern and two doctors accused of conspiring to supply Smith with massive amounts of drugs, including powerful sedatives and painkillers.


They are not charged with causing her 2007 overdose death.


Brighthaupt says Smith popped pills for years. He says she fell into a depression following the 2006 death of her son and began taking 20 pills at a time and spending most of her time sleeping.


Brighthaupt says Stern sometimes gave her the pills and he once saw Smith's psychiatrist provide Smith with chloral hydrate.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162- ... ontentBody

[gwen]

Stern’s Sister Testifies In Anna Nicole Smith Case

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
The sister of Anna Nicole Smith’s former boyfriend Howard K. Stern has testified in the Los Angeles drug conspiracy trial of Stern and two physicians.

Bonnie Stern was called Thursday as a prosecution witness but wound up telling jurors of her brother’s great love for the former Playboy model and professing her lack of memory of shipments of drugs to him in the Bahamas.

Howard K. Stern and the doctors have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to unlawfully provide excessive drugs to Smith and other charges. The defendants are not charged with causing Smith’s overdose death in 2007.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/howard-k ... icle_35798

[gwen]

Nanny: Bloody syringes in Anna Nicole's bathroom

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A nanny who worked for Anna Nicole Smith in the last months of her life said Tuesday that she found bloody syringes and cotton balls, and sometimes a spoon with liquid, inside a bathroom that the celebrity model, her lawyer-boyfriend and her psychiatrist emerged from.

Quethlie Alexie, who tended to Smith and her baby for more than three months in the Bahamas, testified that after Howard K. Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich took her in the bathroom, Smith came out in an altered state.

"When she came out of the bathroom, she was like, drunk," said Alexie, who testified through a Creole interpreter. "She was unable to walk, falling, and was unable to handle her talking. She would laugh."

Alexie, who acknowledged she speaks and understands English, said she did not see what happened in the bathroom because "they had the door closed. I didn't know what went on in there."

Alexie testified in the drug conspiracy trial of Stern, Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, all of whom have pleaded not guilty. They are not charged with causing her drug overdose death in 2007.

The nanny described finding "ashes from fire" on the bathroom counter and matches or a lighter. Sometimes, she said she found a spoon with liquid and "cotton you would use for a shot."

She said it had blood on it, as did syringes she found.

Prosecutors claim Smith was being injected with excessive amounts of opiates and sedatives. Alexie testified that before the three went into the bathroom, "(Stern) would say, 'Baby, come and we'll take our medicine.'"

She described Smith as weak and suffering from bouts of diarrhea and vomiting during that period and said she was consumed by grief over the death of her son, Daniel, just after Smith gave birth to her daughter in September 2006.

Alexie testified that before Eroshevich arrived, Smith could not sleep. After the doctor came, she said, "She would sleep all day. In the middle of her speaking she would sleep."

Outside the jury's presence, defense attorneys complained about arrangements by prosecutors to bring not only the nannies, but seven other members of their families to Los Angeles to stay in a hotel with them. The group included one husband and six children ranging in age from two to 17.

Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose acknowledged she also agreed to relocate at least one of the nannies to a new apartment in the Bahamas and pay the moving costs, as well as first and last month's rent. She said it was done for security reasons but did not specify what those were.

Alexie's sister-in-law, Nadine, who was also a nanny hired by Smith, was scheduled to testify later Tuesday.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100907/D9I3B1B80.html

[gwen]

Anna Nicole Judge Sees Flaws in Prosecution Case
Judge hearing Anna Nicole drug case says prosecution case appears to contradict state law


The judge overseeing the drug conspiracy trial of Anna Nicole Smith's two doctors and lawyer-boyfriend says he believes part of the prosecution's case conflicts with state law and could be targeted in a dismissal motion.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said Thursday outside the presence of jurors that he had been researching the statutes used to charge the defendants with illegally prescribing prescription drugs to an addict and other crimes.

He said a statement included in the law demonstrated that state legislators did not want doctors to be prosecuted for trying to treat patients with legitimate pain issues.

"The more I read, the more difficult it is for me to perceive this as an area for prosecution," Perry said.

He said the lawmakers' statement should be presented for consideration by jurors during deliberations.

He also told attorneys he expects to hear a motion to dismiss at least some of the charges after prosecutors conclude their case, which may occur next week.

The judge has repeatedly criticized the government's case, saying he did not think the evidence supported the conspiracy charges. In addition, he struck testimony by one of Smith's former nannies because he said he didn't find it credible.

"I would hope that a prosecutor would be intent on finding the truth, not just a conviction," Perry told prosecutor Renee Rose Thursday. She was not given an opportunity to respond.

Judges can dismiss charges they don't think have been proven after prosecutors complete their case.

Howard Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor have pleaded not guilty in the case. They are not charged with causing Smith's overdose death in 2007.

The judge's comments came moments after pain management expert Dr. Perry Gordon Fine testified for the defense that state legislatures around the country had been wrestling with how to balance legitimate pain prescriptions against excessive ones.

Fine said he thought Smith suffered from chronic pain and was not an addict.

Kapoor treated Smith's pain with Dilaudid and other drugs in a similar fashion to her previous physician, said Fine, whose testimony will resume on Friday.

He was the first defense witness and was called out of order because of a scheduling issue.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... 060&page=2

[gwen]

Judge May Dismiss Several Charges in Anna Nicole Smith Trial

Several felony charges against Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith's two doctors may be dismissed before their drug conspiracy trial reaches a jury.

Since the trial began on Aug. 4., Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry has expressed concerns about the prosecution's case – namely that Stern and Smith's personal physician Sandeep Kapoor, 41, and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 61, conspired to give an addict highly addictive drugs.

On Monday, Perry said next week he would consider a request by the defense to dismiss some of the charges.

The judge didn't specify which charges could get tossed out, but he has said he doesn't think testimony from prosecution witnesses supports two of three conspiracy charges.

According to the judge, those charges hinge on the legal definition of the term "addict." Prosecutors must also prove that Smith was, indeed, a drug addict.

According to a pain management expert who testified on Monday, Smith's doctors never diagnosed her as a prescription drug addict.

The defense contends that Smith suffered chronic pain, including from rib injuries in 2004 and from childbirth, and that she was devastated over the death of her son, Daniel.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges including obtaining a prescription by deceit – a charge that might survive legal review, as there is evidence that many of Smith's medications were prescribed under false names.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0, ... 57,00.html

[gwen]

Judge Reduces Charges Against Anna Nicole Smith's Former Boyfriend

The judge in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial tossed out two felony charges against Smith's former beau Howard K. Stern on Wednesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry – who earlier this week accused prosecutors of overcharging the case because a celebrity death was involved – discarded two charges against Stern of obtaining drugs by fraud and deceit.

The judge also dismissed part of a conspiracy count against Stern and one of the two physicians on trial, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, saying there wasn't enough proof that the men conspired to obtain controlled drugs through fraud and deceit.

Judge Perry allowed the rest of the conspiracy charge to stand and said the majority of the 11-count complaint can go to the jury for a decision.

Perry told prosecutors on Monday that he has presided over 622 felony jury trials in his career, but only in three cases had he been faced with "overzealous" prosecutors who "appeared to put winning above" fairness.

The rulings on the defense's motion to dismiss were made outside the presence of the jury, which returns to court Monday for closing arguments in the trial of Stern, Kapoor and Smith's psychiatrist, Khristine Eroshevich, who prescribed many of the drugs found in Smith’s body after her death in 2007 at age 39.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0, ... 11,00.html

[gwen]

Prosecutor says Smith was surrounded by enablers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith was surrounded by a circle of enablers - including her boyfriend and two doctors - who supplied her with drugs for years despite her obvious addiction, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose continued the prosecution's closing argument in the drug conspiracy trial of Smith's lawyer-boyfriend Howard K. Stern and two physicians.

Stern took no action to help Smith withdraw from opiates and sedatives, while Drs. Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich continued to prescribe painkillers for the former Playboy model despite signs she was addicted, the prosecutor said.

The three defendants have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to provide excessive prescription drugs to an addict and other charges. They are not charged in her 2007 accidental overdose death.

In closing arguments Monday, another prosecutor said Smith pressured the trio into providing her with narcotics.

Smith experienced physical and emotional pain after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn, and the death of her son, Daniel, who collapsed and died in her Bahamas hospital room of a drug overdose.

Witnesses have said Smith suffered from chronic pain syndrome, seizures, migraines, spinal pain and fractured ribs, among other ailments.

But Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst suggested all the ailments were a ruse to get drugs, including the powerful painkillers Methadone, Vicodin and Dilaudid.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry has told jurors that someone who seeks drugs primarily to control pain is not an addict.

The three defense lawyers have said they would have a total of about six hours of summations before the case goes to the jury.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20101005/D9ILN7U80.html

[ThePhoenix]

Verdicts in the Anna Nicole Smith drug trial will be announced in a Los Angeles courtroom at 4:30 p.m. ET. (10/28)

[ThePhoenix]

Stern - guilty. Faces max of 3 years.

[bbeba103]

Anna Nicole Smith's Boyfriend and Doctor Found Guilty of Conspiracy...

The doctor and boyfriend of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith were found guilty of conspiring to provide the starlet with drugs during the three years preceding her death of an overdose in 2007.

Boyfriend Howard K. Stern and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich face an uncertain future following convictions that they kept Smith doped up on drugs in order to stay in her inner circle and exert control as alleged by prosecutors. A judge said earlier that he was reserving the option of changing the verdict if he didn't like it.

Their misconduct included providing her a myriad of prescription drugs under numerous aliases and conspiring together to furnish the drugs, even when the starlet was trying to get clean in a rehab center, prosecutors alleged.

But jurors acquitted Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Smith's medical doctor, who prescribed Methadone and a variety of other drugs under the alias Michelle Chase. Kapoor claimed she had issues with alcohol, but not as a drug addict.

The verdict comes after nearly 12 days of deliberations and two months of testimony with enough drama consistent with the starlet's overblown life.

state and spiraled out of control upon the death of her son, Daniel. The star witness was former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, the father of Smith's daughter Dannielynn.

irkhead, who lived with Smith at one point, recounted how he tried to wean her off her drugs and even hid her Methadone so she wouldn't take it. His efforts led to a confrontation by Stern.

"I was told by Howard she needed it to live, the Methadone," Birkhead testified. "She would say, 'I'm in pain. I'm not a drug addict,"

But a telling piece of evidence was Smith's appearance at the American Music Awards in which she appeared to be on drugs. The video was played for jurors.

Following the trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry dismissed three of the counts and had some choice words for prosecutors. "I think there are weaknesses in the prosecution's case," Perry said. "But my inclination is to let it go to the jury." If added that if he doesn't like the verdict, he said he has the option of changing it or ordering a new trial.

Before the jury deliberated, jurors asked several questions. They wanted to know how Stern, who isn't a doctor, could be found guilty of illegally prescribing drugs. Then on Wednesday, jurors sent the judge a note asking what to do if they couldn't reach a verdict on "a count or an object crime."

The judge responded by telling them, "If you can't reach a verdict, you can't reach a verdict. We declare a hung jury on that count.

The defendants were not charged with Smith's death.

http://m.aol.com/popeater/default/fullA ... pe_txt(1:4)

[GeorgiaMom]

I am so happy! I heard this on the news on my way home from work and was like YES! I knew the moocher was up to his eyeballs in her death

[bbeba103]

Anna Nicole Smith: Two convicted of drugs conspiracy

A jury has found late Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's psychiatrist and boyfriend guilty of helping to give her excessive amounts of prescription drugs but has acquitted her doctor.

Khristine Eroshevich and Howard Stern were convicted of conspiracy charges, and Eroshevich was found guilty of fraud. Dr Sandeep Kapoor was cleared.

All three had denied supplying Ms Smith, 39, with the drugs.

They were not charged in her 2007 death from a prescription drug overdose.

At the trial in Los Angeles, the trio faced counts of conspiracy, excessive prescribing of opiates and sedatives to an addict and fraudulently obtaining drugs by using false names.

Eroshevich was convicted of conspiracy to provide Ms Smith with drugs and unlawfully prescribing the painkiller Vicodin by fraud. Stern was convicted of two conspiracy counts of aiding and abetting doctors.

The pair are due to be sentenced on 6 January.

Dr Sandeep Kapoor, Ms Smith's doctor, was acquitted on all charges by the court.

'Ease pain'

Prosecutors had argued the three had used fraud to provide prescription drugs to the late model.

Defence lawyers had said their clients were unaware of Ms Smith's addiction to prescription drugs and were simply trying to help ease her chronic physical and emotional pain.

The jury was asked to decide if the three defendants had given Ms Smith the drugs to relieve pain, or whether they were feeding her ddiction.

In Dr Kapoor's case, the jury decided prosecutors had not presented enough evidence that he had provided her with excessive drugs.

The former topless model married Texas oil tycoon J Howard Marshall, a billionaire more than 60 years her senior, at the age of 26.

Ms Smith was accused of marrying simply for money, and spent years after his 1995 death fighting his family over his large fortune.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11648789

[Isanah]

It's about time they are held accountable for their actions. Too bad that they likely will just get probation.