Howard K. Stern and two of Anna Nicole Smith’s former doctors may face a jury soon.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
After more than two weeks in a preliminary hearing, LA Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry decided today that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor to stand trial for 22 drug-related felony charges.
The preliminary hearing in the Howard K. Stern prescription drug case is wrapping up its second week with more powerful testimony.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
Yesterday, a pharmacist testified that he refused to fill a prescription order from defendant Dr. Khristine Eroshevich four days after the 2006 death of Anna Nicole’s son, Daniel. In fact, the pharmacist recalled telling Anna Nicole’s internist, defendant, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor: “This is crazy. This is pharmaceutical suicide.”
Too bad there aren’t more pharmacists like this. Maybe Anna Nicole, Michael Jackson, and Heath Ledger would still be alive.
Click here to watch Popsquire’s Russell Wetanson preview this testimony on TV Guide Network’s “Hollywood 411.”
As the preliminary hearing in the case against Howard K. Stern and two of Anna Nicole Smith’s former physicians continues, so does the disturbing testimony.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
Yesterday, psychiatrist Dr. Nathalie Maullin testified about treating a pregnant Anna Nicole for drug withdrawal at Cedars-Sinai in 2006. According to Dr. Maullin, Anna Nicole said she was willing to “do anything” for her unborn daughter but left the short of her anticipated week-long stay.
The psychiatrist said she told Anna Nicole and Howard that if she wouldn’t comply with the hospital’s outpatient program, she needed to check into a rehab center. According to Dr. Maullin, Anna Nicole’s reply was a stony glare, and Howard questioned whether it was truly necessary.
Yes, it was necessary, Howard. Anna Nicole died 10 months later. This is damaging testimony, especially when an element of one of the crimes involved in this case is to show that Anna Nicole was a “known addict.”
If Howard didn’t know she was a known addict before she checked into a drug withdrawal program, then he certainly should have known when she left and when the doctor suggested rehab. Duh.
The second week of Howard K. Stern’s preliminary hearing begins today. To catch up on the most powerful evidence so far, watch Popsquire’s Russell Wetanson discuss the case on HLN’s “Prime News.”
Anna Nicole Smith’slegal legacy continues today as Howard. K. Stern and two of her former physicians head to court for their preliminary hearing.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
Stern faces 11 felony counts, including four counts of obtaining fraudulent prescriptions and one count of prescribing, administering or dispensing controlled substances to an addict. Meanwhile, the doctors face six felonies each.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last two to four weeks and likely will include testimony from Larry Birkhead. If the prosecution can convince the court that there is sufficient evidence to proceed, a trial will follow at a later date.
PS: This also could be a test case for the Michael Jackson case. Prosecutors can use this hearing to help prepare any case they may have against Dr. Conrad Murray for similar alleged crimes.
If you missed Popsquire’s Russell Wetanson reporting on Anna Nicole Smith during last night’s episode of TV Guide Network’s “Hollywood 411,” don’t fret. Below is an encore presentation.
Popsquire’s entertainment reporter / legal expert, Russell Wetanson, will be on TV Guide Network’s “Hollywood 411″ tonight at 8pm. The topic: newly released FBI documents reveal that Anna Nicole Smith was investigated in 2000 and 2001 for a murder-for-hire plot.
Howard K. Stern and two of Anna Nicole Smith’s physicians were in court today for yet another arraingment.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
This is the third arraignment in this case involving allegations that the triumvirate conspired to over-prescribe drugs to Anna Nicole. Now, however, Stern faces 11 felony counts, including four counts of obtaining fraudulent prescriptions and one count of prescribing, administering or dispensing controlled substances to an addict. Meanwhile, the doctors face only six felonies each.
Given today’s proceedings, Stern clearly emerges as the prosecution’s number one target. His attorney, however, says the focus is misdirected and is pointing fingers at Stern’s co-defendants:
“I think that the case against Howard K. Stern is weak because they are holding him responsible for medical decisions made. [He] is not a doctor—he was relying on the doctors that were treating Anna. Excessiveness is in the eyes of the beholder.”
It’s a smart strategy. At trial, Stern can separate himself from the other defendants by saying he is not a doctor. He can play dumb.
But…how smart do you have to be to know that tons of prescriptions for a pregnant woman is not right?!
Pause Michael Jackson. The LA Times has obtained affidavits written by state officials investigating the role Anna Nicole Smith’s physicians and former attorney / boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, played in her drug use.
[Bauer Griffin Online]
In one of the affidavits, a Los Angeles pharmacist says he refusedto fill a prescription request from psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich — including “a medicine cabinet of pills – two sedatives, 300 tablets of methadone, a muscle relaxer, an anti-inflammatory drug and four bottles of a painkiller nicknamed ‘hospital heroin’” — just five days after the death of Anna Nicole’s son.
The pharmacist claims he called Anna Nicole’s internist, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, and said he had no intention of filling a prescription that amounted to “pharmaceutical suicide.”
And, in a bizarre yet not so shocking twist, the court documents also cite evidence that Drs. Kapoor and Eroshevich, had sexual contact with the star.
If true, this final allegation could push a jury over the edge. It could show that these doctors were so wrapped up in their personal relationship with Anna Nicole that they disregarded all professional boundaries and engaged in illegal conduct.
Howard K. Stern and two of Anna Nicole’s former physicians pleaded not guilty to six felonies in criminal court yesterday. Watch Popsquire’s entertainment reporter/legal expert, Russell Wetanson, discuss the case on HLN’s Prime News.
Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith’s doctors, Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich, pleaded not guilty to felony charges today in a Los Angeles criminal court. The charges include conspiring to furnish controlled substances, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and obtaining fraudulent prescriptions from June 2004 to January 2007.
Like a good lawyer, Popsquire already has updated the Anna Nicole timeline:
2006
May 1: Anna Nicole wins battle before the U.S. Supreme Court that allows her to continue to fight for part of her late husband’s oil fortune.
Sept. 7: Anna Nicole gives birth to daughter Dannielynn in Nassau, Bahamas.
Sept. 10: Anna Nicole’s 20-year-old son Daniel dies in her Bahamas hospital room.
Sept. 26: Anna Nicole’s lawyer/companion Howard K. Stern announces to Larry King that he is the father of her baby.
Sept. 28: Anna Nicole and Stern exchange vows in a “commitment ceremony.”
Oct. 2: Larry Birkhead files a paternity suit to establish that he is Dannielynn’s father.
2007
Feb. 7: Judge orders Anna Nicole to submit to DNA testing in Birkhead paternity suit by no later than Feb. 21.
Yesterday, Howard K. Stern’s attorney accused Attorney General Jerry Brown of sacrificing of Anna Nicole Smith’s medical privacy “to further his own political agenda.” Brown now says this is a “typical defense lawyer diversionary tactic.”
Brown remains confident that the case against Stern is strong. Click here to listen.
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