Anna Nicole Smith drug case goes to court
Prosecutors are expected to present evidence against three people they accuse of illegally providing controlled substances to Anna Nicole Smith, at a preliminary hearing that begins today.
Los Angeles authorities charged doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich as well as Smith's boyfriend and lawyer, Howard K. Stern, in March with conspiring to provide her with controlled substances.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
In court papers, prosecutors indicated they plan to call as witnesses those close to the former Playboy playmate, including her bodyguard and Larry Birkhead, the father of her daughter, Dannielynn.
Smith had prescriptions for 44 medications under at least nine aliases at the time of her death, according to unsealed affidavits accompanying warrants for searches of physicians' offices and other areas. A Florida medical examiner found nine medications in her system and labeled her death the result of "acute combined drug intoxication."
Court papers show a pharmacist in Valley Village refused to fill some of the prescriptions. The amount and combinations of drugs alarmed the pharmacist, who later recalled thinking, "They are going to kill her with this." He phoned Smith's internist and said he had no intention of filling a prescription that amounted to "pharmaceutical suicide," according to court documents.
On Feb. 8, 2007, the 39-year-old model overdosed on prescription medication in a Florida hotel room.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: Anna Nicole Smith in 2000. Credit: Associated Press
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Damn. Go Larry! That SOB Howard hates Larry because he kept getting Anna Nicole off drugs and thinking clearly.
Posted by: Lou'ville Proud | October 13, 2009 at 08:09 AM
Why use a photo of her? Let's see the accused, not a dead woman.
Posted by: Belinda Gomez | October 13, 2009 at 09:12 AM
Its so sad that stuff like this happens several years ago i was on ten different meds for depression and such as this I accidently overdosed and nearly died my husband is severly disabled and lives in a wheelchair my daughters did not need to see me like this. Of course these were all legal drugs proscribed by the dr. It has happened to many great people mr jackson himself just recently lost his life the same way,I loved Anna she had her flaws but who dosent the lose of ther son was more then she could bare she needed counsling .Im a christian and now im not on one pill for depression anna was very very depressed someone should be responsible for not seeing this and stopping this befor it happend to these folks. ROBIN FROM KENTUCKY
Posted by: robin hanshaw | October 13, 2009 at 09:29 AM
Celebrities must be a wholly uneducated group to think they can pour whatever down their throats and live forever. What a bunch of dummies!
Posted by: Bluejeans | October 13, 2009 at 09:40 AM
You cannot tell me as much as Howie K. Stern was around Anna Nicole (just look at all the photos of her with him near by) that he didnt know this was happening?! He was the one feeding her problem.......yet he was the one who was the problem. A good human would have stopped this torture and her demise A human being would have never even have done something like this. I adored Anna. When she wasnt on her drug cocktails, she was an amazing woman, albeit simple but a wonderful person. Was I the only one who saw this coming? Put that leech Howie Stern away for doing what he did to a wonderful woman. You want to blame someone, blame him, he controlled her. Its hard to say "no" to someone when your all drugged out.
Posted by: Mo Zeb | October 13, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Anna died nearly 3 years ago. How come it has taken this long for this matter to be brought to justice? Jerry Brown made headlines several months ago when he announced the arrest of the 3 people involved in this case. Jerry Brown will likely run for governor next year and probably wanted to garner media attention from this high profile case. Politics - you gotta love it.
Posted by: Gibraltar | October 13, 2009 at 11:33 AM
I suppose that the most logical explanation for a group of people to be so drawn to Anna Nicole and wanting to please her so badly would be because they wanted to be in Anna's entourage if she ever saw a payout from her absurd claim against her deceased husband's estate. Of course the no.1 Enabler (Howard) and the free-dealing docs would be on the payroll if Anna ever realized the financial windfall she chased for well over a decade and all the way up to the Supreme Court. How unlucky for them that their Yes-Man behavior has now landed them in court on very serious criminal charges. If you're going to engage in some dangerous manipulation then maybe some cost/benefit analysis should be in order......a step this crew seems to have overlooked.
Posted by: belicoso | October 13, 2009 at 02:05 PM