Felony Charges Dropped Against Howard K. Stern

Howard K. Stern had a good day in court.

A Los Angeles judge dismissed two conspiracy felony charges against Stern, 42, on Thursday, ruling there was no evidence he intended fraud or deception when he got drugs for his former client and lover Anna Nicole Smith under fake names.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry also dismissed the two conspiracy charges against Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, 63, a psychiatrist who was Smith's neighbor, and rejected a charge against her of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. He also reduced a fraud charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Eroshevich to a year of probation.

Eroshevich wept at the news and Stern smiled broadly.

Outside court, Stern said that he was thinking about Anna Nicole Smith and her legacy after the judge's decision.

Smith 'Vindicated'

"I was looking in the sky, thinking she was being vindicated," said Stern, his voice cracking with emotion. He said the prosecution wrongly tried to represent Smith as a weak-willed drug addict who was being overwhelmed by improperly and unnecessarily prescribed medications.

"She was an incredibly strong person and smart – nobody could take advantage of Anna," he said, explaining that after her son Daniel died, "she was in terrible pain."

In a statement after the decision, the L.A. District Attorney's office said, in part: "Judge Perry’s ruling today is totally inconsistent with his previous rulings at the preliminary hearing, the trial itself and once again when the defense concluded their case. Each time, he refused to dismiss the conspiracy counts. The evidence has not changed from that time to now."

The statement added, "His decision denigrates the substantial investigative efforts conducted by the state Department of Justice and the Medical Board. It diminishes the huge social problem of prescription drug abuse facilitated by irresponsible caretakers and unscrupulous medical professionals. ... We will immediately pursue all appellate remedies to overturn Judge Perry’s decision."

Reason to Protect Smith

Judge Perry said he was rejecting the conspiracy charges because the prosecution failed to prove that Stern was aware it was a crime to get a prescription for a celebrity under a fake name. (In this case, he used the moniker Michelle Chase.)

He also added Stern had good reason to want to protect Smith against the possibility that the media might find out she was on methadone and other dangerous medications.

"There was no evidence that Howard K. Stern lacked a good faith belief that what he was doing could be against the law," said Perry, who also found that Smith was not an addict, which was one of the key component's of the prosecution's theory.

Jury Gets the Anna Nicole Smith Drug Case

Was Anna Nicole Smith a loopy drug addict led down the path to destruction by her boyfriend-lawyer and two doctors?

Or was she a clear-eyed celebrity who required a laundry list of prescription drugs to manage her chronic pain and broken heart?

After two months of testimony and a week of closing arguments, a Los Angeles jury on Tuesday will ponder those questions.

The panel will try to decide whether Howard K. Stern, 41, and doctors Sandeep Kapoor, 42, and Khristine Eroshevich, 62, are guilty of multiple felonies, including conspiring to furnish prescription drugs to an addict. The three are not charged with Smith's 2007 death at age 39 from an accidental prescription overdose.

Prosecutors argued that the doctors, motivated by a desire for fame, crossed ethical boundaries by becoming too friendly with their patient.

"These defendants knew what they were doing was wrong," Los Angeles District Attorney Renee Rose told the six man, six woman panel at the conclusion of closing arguments on Friday. "They knew their conduct was unlawful."

The Defense Case

Defense attorneys argued that the charges were arbitrary and there were no such warnings to heed. Smith’s daughter was not born drug addicted, they said, and Smith didn’t have "any Lindsay Lohan incidents."

During his nearly two-day closing argument, Stern’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, said the prosecutors massaged and manipulated the evidence to mislead jurors. He said the prosecutor, for instance, showed photos of Smith with bruises on her face to let jurors think Stern hit her, but the marks were from Botox injections.

"They are seeing evil in every action," Sadow suggests. "The prosecution's overreaching in this case knows no bounds."

And Sadow pointed to one of several ironies in the case: To bring down the three people blamed for Smith’s downfall, the prosecution had to portray the sassy sex symbol as a drugged-out puppet of the alleged co-conspirators, someone who according to her Haitian nannies in the Bahamas would be carried out of the bathroom by Stern and Eroshevich as they left behind bloody syringes.

"How dare you degrade and disparage Anna's life in such a critical, condescending way," said Sadow, who insisted that, "Nobody told Anna not to do something. Nobody told Anna to do something."

Same Evidence; Different Spin

Another irony: Both sides used much of the same evidence to suit their spin on questions that arose in the case.

Why was Smith was swimming and playing at a summer camp for children with AIDS just three months after she broke ribs in a jet ski accident in May 2004? Or jumping on a trampouline?

The prosecution suggests Smith exaggerated her rib injury pain to stock up on her favorite drugs. Kapoor’s attorney, Ellyn Garofolo, suggests the swimming and jumping prove nothing more than that "the medicine was working."

For prosecutors to establish that the three conspired to furnish drugs to an addict, they had to prove that Smith was in fact an addict and not, as the defense suggests, someone who developed a high tolerance for medications after years of treatment for chronic pain.

Smith was first treated in 1996 at the Betty Ford Center for addiction issues related to Vicodin and alcohol, and it later became clear that she was addicted to opiates and benzodiazepenes, Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst explained.

"Her addiction started long before the crimes that we have charged," the prosecutor said. "She had an addiction problem."

Seduced by Fame?

Prosecutors suggested that Kapoor and Eroshevich cut corners for Smith because they were seduced by her fame and sexuality.

Rose introduced notes hidden in Kapoor's closet indicating he was going against a colleague's advice not to develop personal relationships with patients. "I was making out with Anna, my patient, blurring the lines," Kapoor allegedly wrote. "I gave her methadone, Valium. Can she ruin me?"

Stern invited Kapoor, who is gay, to ride in a West Hollywood gay pride parade, Garofolo said. Kapoor became "somewhat inebriated." He never saw Smith socially again.

"If he had not spent an afternoon with his shirt off, partying at a gay pride parade, he would not be sitting here," she told jurors.

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.

Judge May Dismiss Several Charges in the 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 August 4th, 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.

Larry Birkhead Battles Tears as He Testifies About Anna Nicole's Drug Use

Anna Nicole Smith's ex-lover Larry Birkhead fought back tears in court on Friday as he testified about the late star's drug lows.

The photographer, who is the father of Smith's daughter Dannielynn, resumed testifying in the drug conspiracy trial of doctors Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor and Smith’s former boyfriend and lawyer Howard K. Stern and told the court in Los Angeles that the actress/model often suffered seizures after taking drugs.

Birkhead also revealed Anna Nicole would fall asleep during meals because of the numerous prescription medications she was taking.

The doctors and Stern are accused of prescribing to an addict, as well as conspiring to provide excessive opiates and sedatives to Smith. All three have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to provide excessive drugs to the star.

Birkhead, who once battled Stern for custody of Dannielynn and has recently become the lawyer's friend, said he saw Stern give Smith medicine when she didn’t feel well, and testified he knew the attorney was picking up prescriptions for her.

And when he hid a powerful painkiller from his then-girlfriend, Stern called him and asked where it was.

But Anna Nicole always insisted she was not an addict, despite the large amounts of drugs she took for a number of ailments.

Birkhead revealed, "She would say, 'I’m in pain. I’m not a drug addict... I have a high tolerance because I’m in pain.'"

The three-week-old trial continues.

Anna Nicole Smith's Boyfriend & Doctors Go to Trial in Drug Case

Anna Nicole Smith was doped up on drugs – with the help of two doctors and her lawyer boyfriend – until the model-actress died, a prosecutor told jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.

Smith's boyfriend Howard K. Stern, personal physician Sandeep Kapoor, 41, and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 61, face several felony charges in the long-awaited trial that kicked off Wednesday.

In opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose told the L.A. jury that Stern helped get drugs for Smith in illegal ways. She also alleged that Kapoor and Eroshevich "prescribed powerful and addictive medications without treating the underlying" addiction.

Kapoor, Eroshevich, and Stern each face up to five years in prison if convicted of charges, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance to an addict, obtaining a prescription by deceit, fraud, and conspiracy. They have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Lays Out the Case

During her opening statement, Rose displayed a video of Smith acting loopy and possibly drugged during a presentation at the 2004 American Music Awards. She also noted a long list of prescription drugs found in Smith's body after her death in 2007 at age 39.

Among the evidence Rose also mentioned: Drugs prescribed to "Howard K. Stearn," a misspelled version of Stern's name, and notes hidden in Kapoor's closet indicating he was going against a colleague's advice not to develop personal relationships with patients. "I was making out with Anna, my patient, blurring the lines," Kapoor allegedly wrote. "I gave her methadone, Valium. Can she ruin me?"

Kapoor's attorney, Ellyn Garofalo, said that encounter was the only time the two socialized, and emphasized that Kapoor was not involved in prescribing drugs during the last five months of Smith’s life.

Eroshevich's attorney, meanwhile, said her client was "not a pill mill" and the drugs were legally prescribed to Smith for medical purposes.

Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, stared intently at the defendants from the back row and held hands with her husband, James. "This brings all the hurt back," Arthur said.

Attorney: Howard K. Stern Loved Anna

Stern's lawyer, Steven Sadow, said his client was unaware he was breaking any laws by getting drugs for Smith under his name or made-up names. "Celebrities in Hollywood apparently use aliases like that all the time," Sadow said in his opening statement.

He added that Smith was not an addict, but merely a headstrong woman who made sure she got medications that were prescribed by legitimate doctors who struggled to cure her chronic pain.

"She was her own person, and if you wanted things a different way, she would say, 'Get your ass out,' " Sadow told the jury, adding that Stern just wanted to take care of Smith, especially after her son Daniel's death the previous year pushed her into a deep depression.

"He cared for her," said Sadow. "He cherished her. He loved her."

The trial is expected to last about three months.

Larry Birkhead Selling Off Anna Nicole Smith's Possessions

Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead is selling off the late model's possessions to raise money to secure their daughter Dannielynn's future.

Before she died in 2007, Smith launched a legal battle to secure more than $300 million from the estate of her late husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall.

The wrangling continued after her death with the promise of providing a massive trust fund for three-year-old Dannielynn, but a Texas court threw out the claim in March and a subsequent appeal was rejected.

Birkhead has now resorted to selling off his late lover's memorabilia to fund the tot's private education.

He tells Reuters, "It's like, do I want to hold on to one of Anna's dresses, or do I want to try to help Dannielynn's future?

"Dannielynn has different needs than other kids. She has to have security because we have a lot of curious people and it creates a bit of a problem. And now that she's starting school, she'll need to go to a private school. I think Anna would appreciate that these items are going to help Dannielynn thrive and flourish and continue being the great kid that she is. We have money. We have more than enough to survive on. (Auction proceeds) would just supplement that."

The sale, held by Julien's Auctions, will take place on June 26th in Las Vegas and will include Smith's Mercedes sportscar, bronze statues and furniture, as well as gowns and paintings.

A slice of the proceeds from the auction will also go to the late model's charity, the Anna Nicole and Daniel Wayne Smith Foundation, and a dress which Smith wore in an advert for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will raise money for the animal rights organisation.

Appeals Court Rejects Big Inheritance for Anna Nicole Smith's Estate

A federal appellate court panel ruled Friday that the estate of Anna Nicole Smith is not entitled to any of the millions of dollars left by Smith's late oil magnate husband, J. Howard Marshall, when he died.

The decision comes as another blow to the main beneficiary of Smith's estate: her 3 1/2-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead.

"It's been a very sort of sad story – so many people involved in this case have died," says Kent Richland, the appellate lawyer for the model's estate. Still, he vows that "this is not the final step" in the legal battle.

The appellate court decision is the latest development in a long battle over the fortune left by Marshall, who died in 1995 at age 90. A bankruptcy judge awarded $450 million to Smith, who had been married to him for 14 months. The award was later reduced by a federal district judge to $88 million.

But a Texas probate court then ruled in favor of Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, who argued there was no provision in his father's will to give Smith anything. Pierce Marshall died in 2006, but his wife, Elaine Marshall, has continued the fight on behalf of herself and her children.

While the matter wound through the courts, Smith died in 2007 from a toxic combination of prescription drugs after becoming despondent over her teenage son Daniel's death from similar causes.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the probate court's decision siding with Marshall's son.

Smith estate attorney Richland said he will take the battle to the entire 9th Circuit panel, and then, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. "This is not the final step," he says. "This is only an intermediate court's ruling."

Accused Psychiatrist Attends Séance forAnna Nicole Smith

A psychiatrist facing criminal charges in Anna Nicole Smith's death recently attended a séance for the model, who died three years ago Monday.

Psychic Shayne Goldfarb led the séance at Pol Atteu's Beverly Hills boutique, according to Atteau's partner, close Smith friend Patrik Simpson.

Among those attending was Smith's neighbor and psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who traveled with Smith in her final months and who, along with two others, will soon stand trial on drug conspiracy charges.

Simpson, co-author of Anna Nicole Smith, Portrait of an Icon, Signature Edition, says he's convinced they really did contact Smith during the séance and that the psychic told them Smith is "happy she's with (her late son) Daniel. She's sad she had to leave her daughter, but she really had to be with Daniel."

It was on February 8, 2007 that Smith died at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39, after her body was assaulted with prescription medications that left her too weak to move. Smith made it clear to those around her that she was depressed and heartbroken after Daniel died at age 20 just months earlier while visiting his mother in the Bahamas upon the birth of his baby sister, Dannielynn, who was fathered by photographer Larry Birkhead.

"We just returned from the Bahamas and visited the grave site and Dannielynn bent down and kissed the pictures of her mom and Daniel," Birkhead told People Magazine exclusively. "There are days when I can laugh about old memories and there are times when the memories are too much. It still seems like she was here just yesterday. I can't believe it has been three years."

He adds that Dannielynn often talks about Anna and Daniel. "Last month, we were traveling on a plane and Dannielynn smiled and looked out the window and said, 'My mommy is in those clouds in heaven,' " Birkhead says. "Dannielynn also points out pictures in a room to visitors at the house and tells anyone who will listen, 'That is my mommy and Daniel.' "

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley has scheduled a trial date for Aug. 4 for Eroshevich, 62, Howard K. Stern, 41, who was Smith's lawyer and fiancé, and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, 41, Smith's physician. The next hearing is set for April 23rd.

Stern is charged with 11 felony counts, including obtaining a prescription by deceit; fraud and conspiracy. Eroshevich and Kapoor each face six felony counts. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Witnesses are expected to include a pharmacist who has testified in preliminary proceedings that he refused to fill a prescription written by Eroshevich because the high doses of medication amounted to "pharmaceutical suicide."

Anna Nicole Smith Associates Will Face Trial

Three people who allegedly furnished drugs to Anna Nicole Smith before she died will stand trial for a long list of felonies, a judge ruled Friday after a 2 ½-week evidentiary hearing.

Prosecutors say Smith's lawyer and boyfriend Howard K. Stern, 40, her psychiatrist and neighbor, Khristine Eroshevich, 61, and her physician, Sandeep Kapoor, 41, fed a steady stream of deadly drugs to the famous model, who died two years ago at age 39.

"I do find the proof is sufficient to bind them over for trial," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry ruled as he brought the trio's preliminary hearing to a close Friday.

Stern is charged with 11 felony counts, including prescribing a controlled substance to an addict; obtaining a prescription by deceit; fraud and conspiracy. Eroshevich and Kapoor each face six felony counts.

Witnesses who testified during the preliminary hearing included a pharmacist who said that he refused to fill a prescription written by Eroshevich because the high doses of medication amounted to "pharmaceutical suicide."

Also in court, a witness read the following from a June 13, 2005 entry in Kapoor's journal: "I was making out with Anna, my patient, blurring the lines ... I gave her methadone, Valium. Can she ruin me?"

The three defendants return to court on December 11th.

Anna Nicole Smith's Last Days

As the new spokesmodel for Trimspa diet pills in 2003, Anna Nicole Smith was a bubbly picture of health. But just four years later, at 39 years old, the former blonde bombshell drifted out of consciousness in a Florida hotel room – too weak to walk, sit up or even drink from a glass, until her heart stopped.

What had happened?

Prosecutors blame a battery of 44 different medications provided by some of the people closest to her: the man who claimed to love her more than anyone in the world; a psychiatrist who claims she was trying to help the former Playmate endure the recent death of her son, Daniel; and Smith's own physician.

For the first time, many of the tragic details of Smith's final hours are being revealed in court. The first witnesses took the stand this week in Los Angeles to determine whether Howard K. Stern, 40, Khristine Eroshevich, 61, and Sandeep Kapoor, 41, should stand trial on felony charges of conspiring to give dangerous drugs to an addict through fraudulent means, such as by using fake names.

Powerful, Tragic Testimony

The hearing, which follows a two-year investigation into Smith's death, began with a bang. Maurice Brighthaupt, Smith's security guard, described watching Smith slurp from a baby bottle of the powerful sedative chloral hydrate – cited by a coroner as a primary cause of Smith's fatal overdose – as if it were a Pepsi.

"I saw her use a spoon maybe twice and after that it was bottle to mouth. Gulp," Brighthaupt, also a Miami firefighter, testified, adding that he had several conversations with Eroshevich in which the psychiatrist expressed concern about Smith overdosing.

Stern's lawyer says he trusted Smith's doctors to prescribe what she needed for her physical pain and is not liable for the way they obtained the drugs.

Doctors to Blame?

"I don't think anyone can say that Howard K. Stern didn't love Anna and didn't attempt, in his way, to do the best thing for her," Stern's attorney, Steven Sadow of Atlanta, told our sources.

Stern has pleaded not guilty to 11 felony counts, including prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict, obtaining a prescription for opiates by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Eroshevich and Kapoor are each charged with six felony counts, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance, prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The case is far from a slam dunk for prosecutors, and even Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry has wondered aloud about placing criminal liability on doctors and a friend: "Whose fault is it that somebody takes too many pills?"

Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose replied that the defendants were "fully aware" that Smith was an addict who could not control herself around drugs.

"It's like putting a gun in the hand of someone who is suicidal and saying don't pull the trigger," Rose says.

Sad Scene at the Hotel

Special Agent Danny Santiago of California's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement says that Smith was clearly ill when she checked into the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Feb. 5, 2007. Santiago testified a hotel clerk told him that Smith, a repeat customer, leaned on Stern to walk and seemed "out of it."

Another hotel employee assigned to act as Smith's personal assistant recalled Eroshevich telling her that Smith had the flu. The psychiatrist said she wasn't licensed in Florida and needed help in getting a prescription for the model, Santiago said.

The hotel dispatched a local doctor to go to the room and treat Smith, but then Stern insisted the doctor stay away, citing concerns about negative press coverage.

"They didn't want any leaks about Anna's physical condition," Santiago said.

Baby Bottle and Injections

He said that when detectives asked Stern where Smith's baby was, he told them Dannielynn had stayed behind in the Bahamas. When asked about a baby bottle at Smith's bedside, Stern replied that "she was so weak that that was the only way she could drink the Pedialyte" – a rehydrating drink for children.

Stern, a lawyer who became Smith's fiancé, knew about her use of chloral hydrate and would pass her the bottle when she asked for it, Brighthaupt testified.

Brighthaupt said he also saw Stern inject Smith with other medication "more than seven times" and recounted seeing Stern in a bathroom using a cigarette lighter and a spoon to melt Valium into an injectable form. "They felt it would get in her system faster," he said.

Smith's autopsy blamed her death on an acute combination of toxic drugs, especially chloral hydrate, Benadryl, clonazepam, diazepam and lorazepam.

Larry Birkhead to Testify at Anna Nicole Smith Drug Hearing

The father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn has been subpoenaed to testify in a criminal case against his one-time love rival.

Larry Birkhead has since patched up his differences with the model/actress' companion Howard K. Stern and the two are now friends, but the photographer who fought with Stern over custody of Smith's baby could land the lawyer in trouble when he takes the stand in a preliminary hearing into the late star's drug use.

The hearing began in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday.

Stern and associates Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor have been charged with conspiracy to furnish tragic Smith with drugs. All three have pleaded not guilty.

California Department of Justice narcotics investigator Danny Santiago opened the hearing by recounting what he discovered in the Florida hotel room where Smith collapsed before her death in February 2007.

Anna Nicole Smith was Investigated for Murder

A new wrinkle in the life of Anna Nicole Smith has come to life. It turns out that in 2000 and 2001, the FBI spent time investigating the former Playboy Playmate for taking part in a plot to kill her late husband's son, though ultimately dropped the case for lack of evidence.

According to files obtained by the Associated Press, the feds were looking into a murder-for-hire plot against E. Pierce Marshall, the son of the Smith's billionaire tycoon husband, J. Howard Marshall II.

Smith and Marshall were in the middle of a sometimes vicious battle over who would inherit the oil man's millions of dollars. Smith met the elderly man while working as a stripper, and married him shortly after. He was 89, she was 26. He died just over a year after their marriage.

According to files, Smith was questioned in 2000, and immediately broke down crying, denying all involvement. However, files also show that police raided her home at some point, and recovered a handgun, steel knife, and an orange and black "Dr. Seuss" hat.

The investigation came to end sometime in 2001, after prosecutors determined there was "insufficient evidence to establish that there was a murder-for-hire plot by Ms. Smith to kill Pierce Marshall." E. Pierce Marshall passed away in 2006 at the age of 67. Anna Nicole Smith passed away from a suspected drug overdose in South Florida a little over one year later.

Additional Charges for Howard K. Stern in Anna Nicole Smith's Death

Howard K. Stern, the longtime companion of Anna Nicole Smith, was charged Wednesday with five more felonies stemming from the one-time Playboy Playmate's 2007 death.

The additional charges – which had already been filed against Smith's psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and her internist, Dr.Sandeep Kapoor – are four counts of obtaining fraudulent prescriptions and one count of prescribing, administering or dispensing controlled substances to an addict.

Stern has pleaded not guilty to the latest charges.

The charges come a day after the court released search warrant affidavits that tell how the three defendants acquired massive quantities of dangerous and addictive drugs for Smith after the heartbreaking death of her son Daniel.

Drug Count

In March 2007 – roughly four weeks after Smith died in a Florida hotel room, Broward County Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Perper had asked Smith's friend and personal psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, to help him tally all the drugs Smith had been taking.

Eroshevich, 61, brought with her Smith's pill bottles, and the two of them compiled a list of 44 medications – including Klonopin, Topomax, Valium, Soma and the dangerous sedative chloral hydrate. While all the drugs were for Smith, the prescriptions were made out to several different patient names, including Michelle Chase, Anne Marshall, Susie Wong, Jean Smith, Howard K. Stern, Ben Thompson, Ann Smith, and Ben Stern.

This detail is included in roughly 200 pages of search warrant affidavits released Tuesday in the case against Howard K. Stern, 40, Eroshevich and Smith physician Sandeep Kapoor, 41, who are charged with prescribing the drugs that killed the 39-year-old model.

The warrants allege that the doctors prescribed an excessive number of drugs to Smith and in excessive dosages – even while Smith was pregnant with her baby, Dannielynn Birkhead.

It further alleges that Dr. Kapoor apparently had a romantic relationship with Smith, in violation of medical ethics. The officers say their evidence includes a video of a shirtless Dr. Kapoor kissing Smith and nuzzling her neck at a nightclub.

Stops Short of Homicide Charges

The warrants also state that Eroshevich prescribed chloral hydrate for Smith in the name of an attorney who was not aware that Eroshevich had done so, and that Smith's nannies told investigators that, when Eroshevich frequently visited Smith in the Bahamas, she and Stern "would crush pills, heat them to turn them into liquid and inject Smith."

While the criminal complaint stops short of charging the three defendants with homicide, California Department of Justice Special Agent Jennifer Doss notes in her statement of probable cause that "several of the drugs found in Smith's hotel room are the same drugs that caused her death, and all the prescription drugs were prescribed by Dr. Khristine Eroshevich."

The investigators also quote pharmacists and medical experts who felt that Smith might commit "pharmaceutical suicide."

Due in Court

Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor – who have pleaded not guilty to all charges – are due in court Wednesday to set a date for a preliminary hearing. Their attorneys say they'll show at trial that the warrant accusations are wrong. Stern's lawyer says he trusted Smith's doctors to prescribe what she needed for her physical pain and is not liable for the way they obtained the drugs.

"I don't think anyone can say that Howard K. Stern didn't love Anna and didn't attempt, in his way, to do the best thing for her," Stern's attorney, Steven Sadow of Atlanta, said.

Sadow declined to comment on what kind of physical pain Smith may have had that would justify the high volume of addictive drugs.

Openly Gay

Kapoor attorney Ellyn Garofalo adds that she doubts any of the three would have been charged if Smith had not been a celebrity. Despite the video, she denies that Kapoor and Smith were romantically involved, saying, "Dr. Kapoor has been openly gay for a long time and certainly wasn't sleeping with her and had nothing to do with her socially.”

Eroshevich attorney Adam Braun characterized the warrants as self-serving summaries of the prosecution's allegations. He says Eroshevich was simply trying to help "her friend and patient" cope with the death of her son Daniel, which occurred the same weekend as the birth of Dannielynn.

'Pharmaceutical Suicide'

"Although the care may not have been perfect, it was consistently guided by Dr. Eroshevich's desire to help Anna cope with this horrific loss and the psychiatric and other medical issues exacerbated by it," Braun stated.

The warrant affidavits say that, back on Sept. 15, 2006 (five days after Daniel's death), pharmacist Ira Freeman received a faxed request from Eroshevich, forwarded by Kapoor, requesting high dosages of several medications for "M. Chase," including Dilaudid, Lorazepam, Soma, Dalmane, Prexige and Methadone. According to the documents, Freeman called Kapoor to explain why he was declining to fill the prescription, which he characterized as "pharmaceutical suicide."

Freeman remained concerned by the request and thought "they are going to kill her with this." He then faxed the request to Greg Thompson, former director of the Drug and Poison Control Center at the University of Southern California, who responded that the dosages were "outrageously high," and might be appropriate for a drug addict under supervised care or "if you were going to kill someone." He said the Methadone dosages alone were roughly four times what a heroin addict might be prescribed, and that Eroshevich didn't seem to understand the medications she was seeking.

Anna Nicole Smith was Over-Prescribed Painkillers While Pregnant

Anna Nicole Smith's doctor reportedly prescribed the tragic actress/model potentially fatal doses of painkillers and other medications while she was pregnant with daughter Dannielynn.

Ongoing investigations into the star's 2007 death have put Smith's physician Sandeep Kapoor in the spotlight, amid claims he ignored medical dangers by providing an array of powerful and addictive drugs to a woman with a history of substance abuse.

In court documents leaked to the Los Angeles Times newspaper, four doctors are under scrutiny for their dealings with Smith, but the investigation zeros in on Kapoor, and the actress/model's former next door neighbour Khristine Eroshevich.

State prescription records, contained in the documents, show Kapoor prescribed Smith sedatives and painkillers, often in quantities far beyond medical standards.

And Medical Board of California official Jon Genens, who is leading the investigation into Smith's death, writes Kapoor prescribed an amount of methadone that averaged more than twice the usual daily dose during a 27-day period in 2005. The documents also suggest the doctor wrote prescriptions for Xanax, Dilaudid, Lorazepam and methadone, and, in some cases increased them during Smith's 2006 pregnancy, despite potential hazards to the foetus.

Genens' investigations also found "a pattern of overprescribing drugs which could pose a potential danger to his (Kapoor) patients."

Kapoor's attorney, Ellyn Garofalo, insists authorities have miscalculated the amounts his client prescribed.

She tells the Times, "There's been a misreading of the medical records. When all the facts are disclosed, they will show that Dr. Kapoor's treatment of Anna Nicole Smith was in good faith and consistent with good medical practice."

In March, Los Angeles prosecutors charged Kapoor, Eroshevich and Smith's companion and lawyer, Howard K. Stern, with conspiring to provide the actress/model with controlled substances. All three have pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing is set for next month.

Howard K. Stern Pleads Not Guilty in Anna Nicole Smith Case

Three of those in Anna Nicole Smith's most-trusted circle pleaded not guilty Wednesday to conspiring to provide the drugs that killed her in 2007.

Howard K. Stern, 40, the Playboy model's lawyer-boyfriend, her physician Sandeep Kapoor, 40, and Smith's neighbor and psychiatrist Kristine Eroshevich, 61, entered the pleas before Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau, who ordered the three back on June 8 to set a summer date for a preliminary hearing.

Attorneys estimate the preliminary hearing will last at least two weeks. If prosecutors convince the judge that the case should go to trial, defense attorneys say they will ask for a hearing on a filed motion that argues for the case to be thrown out.

Prosecutors claim that the trio conspired to use fake names to prescribe vast amounts of potent drugs to an addict. These include methadone, clonazepam and chloral hydrate.

Steve Sadow, Stern's main attorney, told reporters outside the court that it's only appropriate to charge licensed physicians with the felonies filed against Stern.

Charge Fly Back and Forth

"The statute doesn't apply to him and we reserve the right to argue that later," said Sadow. "We're hoping that at the preliminary hearing, the case will be thrown out and justice will be served."

The charges were filed in March after a two-year investigation by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who characterized Stern as Smith's principal enabler. Brown said the three epitomize society's reckless handling of toxic prescription drugs.

Sadow counters that Brown manufactured the 11 felony charges because he wants to be governor again. "I'll debate him any time, any place,” Sadow said.

Sadow has previously said that Smith was "intelligent, strong and street smart," and "no one told her what to do and when to do it. No one enabled Anna Nicole Smith. She was her own person."

'Didn't Do That'

During the brief press conference, one reporter repeatedly asked if it was okay that Stern stood by while Smith did drugs. Sadow responded that Stern "did not commit any criminal act – period. You can ask me all day long if Howard K. Stern did that, and my response will be that he didn't do that."

Attorney Ellyn Garofalo told PEOPLE Wednesday that her client, Kapoor, "is still practicing, his patients has been supportive, and Mr. Kapoor appreciates their support."

Attorney Adam Braun has previously said that his client, Eroshevich, treated Smith (who lived in the Bahamas) for "acute physical and psychological ailments, complicated by the fact that she didn't want to return to the United States or be hospitalized." He said that Eroshevich cared for Smith "with the best interests of the patient in mind."

The charges prompted Florida investigators to reopen their probe into Smith's death on Feb. 8, 2007 in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39.

Attorney: Howard K. Stern Innocent of 'Baseless' Allegations

Two of the people accused of contributing to Anna Nicole Smith's drug death made their first court appearances Tuesday as their attorneys alleged the felonies were filed for political reasons.

Howard K. Stern, 40, boyfriend and lawyer of the Playboy model, and Kristine Eroshevich, 61, Smith's neighbor and psychiatrist, appeared before Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau, but said they were not ready to enter pleas. Lousteau ordered the pair back May 13 for arraignment.

Steve Sadow, one of three attorneys representing Stern, told reporters outside of court that state Attorney General Jerry Brown's allegations Stern was Smith's "principal enabler" in acquiring the toxic prescription drugs that led to her death two years ago are a "blatant attempt to advance his own political career."

"He is innocent of the baseless allegations made against him in the criminal complaint," Sadow said. "Both Anna and Howard believed in their doctors and relied in good faith on their medical judgment."

Sadow said Smith was "intelligent, strong and street smart," and "no one told her what to do and when to do it. No one enabled Anna Nicole Smith. She was her own person."

Lawyer Criticizes Jerry Brown

Sadow also said that "Brown, not Howard K. Stern, is the real enabler in this misguided and unprecedented prosecution," and that Brown was wrong to refer to Smith as a drug addict.

Attorney Adam Braun said his client, Eroshevich, treated Smith for "acute physical and psychological ailments, complicated by the fact that she didn't want to return to the United States or be hospitalized." He said that Eroshevich treated Smith "with the best interests of the patient in mind."

The two and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, 40, Smith's physician, were charged last month with conspiring to use fake names to prescribe vast amounts of potent prescription drugs, including methadone, clonazepam and chloral hydrate, to an addict. Brown said the three epitomize society's reckless handling of toxic prescription drugs.

The charges prompted Florida investigators to reopen their probe into Smith's death on Feb. 8, 2007 in Hollywood, Fla., at age 39.

Anna Nicole Smith Case to be Reexamined

Florida officials are to reexamine the circumstances surrounding Anna Nicole Smith's death, following the arrest of two doctors and her former lover.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, Sandeep Kapoor and Smith's longtime boyfriend and lawyer, Howard K. Stern, have all been charged with conspiring to keep the late model with a steady supply of prescription drugs, despite knowing she was an addict.

Smith died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in a Florida hotel room in 2007 and now prosecutors are reinvestigating the events leading up to the tragedy, with a view to possibly reopening the case.

Ron Ishoy, spokesman for Fort Lauderdale State Attorney Mike Satz, tells E! online, "Our prosecutors have met with representatives of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Justice and discussed the evidence they have turned up in their investigation. We are now investigating that evidence to see where it might lead in relation to Ms. Smith’s death here in Broward County in 2007.”

Stern, Kapoor and Eroshevich have all denied charges felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict. They are currently free on bail.

Howard K. Stern Arrested for Furnishing Drugs to Anna Nicole Smith

More than two years after Anna Nicole Smith died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs, authorities have filed the first criminal charges – targeting her former attorney and boyfriend, Howard K. Stern.

Stern, 40, a fixture at Smith's side for years who once claimed to be the father of her daughter Dannielynn, has been formally charged with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith prior to her death, prosecutors said Thursday.

He was arrested and booked by police in Whittier, Calif., with bail set for $20,000, police records show.

Also charged with felonies were two doctors, Sandeep Kapoor, 40, and Khristine Eroshevich, 61, who allegedly prescribed medication unlawfully to Smith, according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office.

Kapoor also was arrested and booked in Whittier. A warrant was issued for Eroshevich's arrest.

The conspiracy counts allege the three defendants conspired to provide controlled substances to Smith from between June 2004 and January 2007. They also were charged with "prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict," among other charges.

Smith, the former Playboy model who starred in the reality series The Anna Nicole Show, died at age 39 in February 2007 of an accidental overdose of a combination of prescription drugs. Her death came just months after her 20-year-old son Daniel also died of a lethal combination of drugs.

Anna Nicole Smith Inheritance Battle Continues

Lawyers for Anna Nicole Smith have stepped up the ongoing battle over the late star's inheritance from her dead husband, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to finally resolve the dispute.

Smith, who died in 2007 at the age of 39, was 26 when she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994.

He died a year later and Smith claimed her husband had made an oral promise to give her half his estate.

Smith, who was born Vickie Lynn Hogan, battled her late spouse's son, E. Pierce Marshall, to be awarded $88.5 million of his fortune.

But the money has been held up in the appeals court, with Pierce Marshall arguing that various wills and trusts his father had prepared over the years named him sole heir.

America's Supreme Court ruled in May 2006 that Smith could pursue her late husband's fortune in federal court.

Pierce Marshall died a month later but the battle continued with the executors of his estate - and is still going on after Smith's own death, with her lawyers seeking the money on behalf of the star's two-year-old daughter Dannielynn.

And now Smith's lawyers have filed papers claiming the dispute needs to be settled soon as most of Marshall's $125 million estate is now owed to the Internal Revenue Service, and Smith's settlement risks being lost if it continues to be held up by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The papers state, "Vickie's estate will undeniably suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not vacated, as Pierce's executor claims there is no money to pay the district court judgment, and Vickie's estate cannot pursue Pierce's missing billions unless and until the stay (hold on the money) is vacated."