Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, Doctor Guilty of Using False names

CNN- Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich were found guilty Thursday on charges of conspiring to provide drugs using false names.

Another defendant in the case, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted on all counts against him.

"This is really a victory not just for me, but it is a victory for patients everywhere in our nation who suffer chronic pain,and physicians who treat difficult chronic pain every day," Kapoor said outside the courthouse.

The jury failed to convict any of the defendants of providing drugs to a known addict, which was the linchpin of the prosecution's case.

Stern was acquitted on seven of the nine counts he faced.

"These were all the counts related to whether the medications were for a legitimate medical purpose or for whether Anna Nicole was an addict," Stern said. "What the jury did find me guilty of were two conspiracy counts limited exclusively to my name being used on medications for Anna. This was done to protect Anna Nicole's privacy and it was nothing more than that."

The verdicts came in a complex case that included two months of testimony and 13 days of jury deliberations.

Stern's attorney, Steve Sadow, said after the trial that the conspiracy conviction for his client was for Stern having given his consent to Eroshevich to use Stern's name on prescriptions intended for Smith.

The charges against Eroshevich, a psychiatrist who flew to Smith's side in the Bahamas after her son's death in 2006, were related to using Stern's name and another woman's name to write prescriptions for Smith.

Stern and the doctors were charged with conspiring to feed the reality TV star and Playboy model's drug addiction, and using false names to obtain the drugs over the last three years of her life. The three defendants were not charged in Smith's February 2007 death in a Florida hotel, which a medical examiner ruled was an accidental overdose of a sleep aid combined with the effects of a viral flu.

After the verdicts were read, Eroshevich said she "felt good," despite the conviction because she was prepared for the jury's decision.

The case raised questions about ethical boundaries in a doctor-patient relationship, the prescribing of painkillers and anti-anxiety medicines and the use of fake names when treating celebrities.

The defense called only one witness -- an expert who concluded that Smith suffered from chronic pain, depression and anxiety, not drug addiction.

Her drug dependency was legal since it was for legitimate medical purposes, including for treatment of her pain and anxiety, defense lawyers argued.

The prosecution said the doctors never said no to Smith's drug-seeking because they wanted to be part of her celebrity entourage.

False names were used by Stern and the doctors to hide excessive prescriptions from the state's computer system that monitors drug usage, prosecutors argued. The defense said it is a common practice in Hollywood, used to protect celebrities' privacy from prying tabloid reporters.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry hinted before the verdicts were returned that if any defendants were found guilty, he would consider "possible selective prosecution issues" when sentencing them. He would have the power to reduce most of the felony charges to misdemeanors.

After the verdicts were returned, Perry set sentencing for January 6. Stern and Eroshevich could face a maximum of three years each in prison, according to the prosecutor's office.

Three Plead 'Not Guilty' In Anna Nicole Smith Case

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Howard K. Stern and two doctors entered "not guilty" pleas to charges of conspiring to provide drugs to Anna Nicole Smith before her fatal overdose in 2007.

Stern- Smith's longtime partner and attorney- appeared before a Los Angeles judge Wednesday morning for formal arraignment, along with co-defendants Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.

The three are charged in California with several felonies, including conspiring to furnish controlled substances, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and obtaining fraudulent prescriptions from June 2004 through January 2007 -- only weeks before Smith's death.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, when he announced the case in March, said the doctors and Stern devised a plan to use fake names so Smith could be prescribed "thousands of pills."

Smith, the former Playboy playmate and reality TV star, was drugged "almost to the point of stupefaction," Brown said.

Stern defense lawyer Steve Sadow has called the charges baseless and accused Brown of using Smith's death for his own political purposes.

"Bottom line is that Howard K. Stern did not commit a criminal act, period, and you can ask me that all day long and I'll still tell you he did not commit a criminal act," Sadow said after Wednesday's hearing.

Smith, 39, was pronounced dead February 8, 2007, after being discovered unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood, Florida. A coroner said she died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

Florida prosecutors said in March they were taking a new look at Smith's death to see if evidence California investigators had gathered recently might cause them to open an inquiry.

The Broward County, Florida, state attorney's office never opened a probe into Smith's death but did assist the Seminole police department in its investigation in the days afterward.

Howard K. Stern's DENIAL

From an article out of perezhilton.com:
"Stern's lawyer, Krista Bath, claims that Howie is a victim of lies and not a felon!

She says: "For over two years, I have represented Howard K. Stern in connection with civil litigation arising out his relationship with Anna Nicole Smith and false accusations published about him, including representing Mr. Stern in the body custody proceedings. In the course of that litigation, I have spent hundreds of hours reviewing depositions under oath or interviews of almost every principal witness claiming to possess first hand knowledge of Mr. Stern's relationship with Anna Nicole [Smith]. His accusers have been shown to have no credibility due to their conflicting stories, to have a bias based on their own personal agendas or to have no factual basis to support their accusations. Given the knowledge obtained from these various cases, I am confident that the criminal charges brought against Mr. Stern last evening by the State of California will likewise be shown to have no factual basis and that Mr. Stern will ultimately be exonerated with respect to his conduct.

"I would remind the public that the fundamental principle of our criminal justice system is that an individual is presumed innocent. Publicity efforts by the State of California last night and today in connection with the filing of the charges against Mr. Stern are inconsistent with that principle and jeopardize Mr. Stern's constitutional right to a fair trial. With formal charges having been filed, this case should not be tried in the court of public opinion and Mr. Stern has no intention of doing so. However, Mr. Stern and I are mindful of the reality that he has for the past several years found himself on trial in the media. The media trial of Mr. Stern has been based on constant shouts of guilty from a barrage of uninformed commentators based on totally inaccurate and often manufactured "facts." The television, tabloid and Internet trial of Mr. Stern in the court of public opinion has been based on sensational lies, speculation, rumor and gossip. Unfortunately, it appears that criminal charges have now been brought by the State of California based on this same type of misinformation.

"Mr. Stern will continue efforts to have the evidence in his civil cases unsealed and made available for public inspection and review so that hopefully any future media discussions will be informed ones, based on the actual facts and not sensationalized accusations that have no factual or legal merit. If this occurs, future discussions will focus on Mr. Stern's innocence."

Typical lawyer crap! "

Stern Was Anna Nicole's 'Enabler,' AG Says

Brown called Smith's longtime partner and attorney Howard K. Stern the "principal enabler" in a conspiracy with two doctors for giving the "known addict" thousands of prescription pills.

Stern and a doctor were jailed on charges of conspiring to furnish drugs before her death in 2007, authorities said.

"Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were arrested and later released from a Los Angeles County jail Thursday night after each posted a $20,000 bond, a police spokesman said.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich also faces charges and is expected to turn herself in Monday, authorities said.

The doctors and Stern devised a plan to use fake names so Smith could be prescribed "thousands of pills," Brown said.

Her doctors knew she was addicted and gave her drugs "excessively," Brown said.

"The quantity of the drugs, the variety of the drugs, the combination at any given point and her continuing to use that; that, to a professional, is clear evidence of addiction," Brown said.

"These cocktails of methadone and antidepressants and sleeping pills and Xanax, you put all that into a cocktail, it explodes and can cause death, injury and permanent morbidity and disability," he said.

Holy Moses!! I Knew This Would Happen!

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Anna Nicole Smith's longtime partner and attorney, Howard K. Stern, and a doctor were jailed Thursday on charges of conspiring to furnish drugs before her death in 2007, authorities said.

Dangerous cocktails of prescription drugs were pumped into Smith "almost to the point of stupefaction" and eventually led to her death, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Friday.

Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were arrested and later released from a Los Angeles County jail Thursday night after each posted a $20,000 bond, a police spokesman said.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich also faces charges and is expected to turn herself in Monday, authorities said.

The doctors and Stern devised a plan to use fake names so Smith could be prescribed "thousands of pills," Brown said.

Her doctors knew she was addicted, Brown said.

"The quantity of the drugs, the variety of the drugs, the combination at any given point and her continuing to use that; that, to a professional, is clear evidence of addiction," Brown said.

"These cocktails of methadone and antidepressants and sleeping pills and Xanax, you put all that into a cocktail, it explodes and can cause death, injury and permanent morbidity and disability," he said.

Smith, 39, was pronounced dead February 8, 2007, after being found unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Florida.

The former Playboy playmate and reality TV star died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, a coroner said. Several prescription medications -- both in Smith's and Stern's names -- were found in the room after her death.

Officials said prescription and over-the-counter drugs were found in Smith's system, including three antidepressant or antianxiety drugs. Also found in toxicology testing was human growth hormone and chloral hydrate, a sleep medication, officials said.

Stern and Kapoor, both 40, and Eroshevich, 61, each were charged with eight felonies, including conspiring to furnish controlled substances, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and obtaining fraudulent prescriptions from June 2004 to January 2007 -- only weeks before Smith's death.

Kapoor and Eroshevich also were each charged with obtaining a prescription for opiates by "fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." And each was charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Smith was buried in the Bahamas on March 2, 2007, next to the grave of her son, Daniel, who had died in September 2006, days after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn.

Brown said his office will aggressively target California doctors who over-prescribe dangerous drugs.

"People think those drug dealers on the street corners are the only threat," he said. "As a matter of fact, people in white smocks and pharmacies and with their medical degrees are a growing threat, and we aim to curtail it and curb it in the best way we can."