Anna Nicole Smith boyfriend convicted in drug trial
(Agencies)
2010-10-29 07:20
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Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend and a doctor were convicted on Thursday of helping to keep the former Playboy model loaded up with painkillers, anti-depressants and other prescription drugs before her death.
After a two month trial, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury acquitted a second doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, on all charges.
Smith's companion and lawyer Howard K. Stern was convicted on two counts of conspiracy and acquitted on seven other charges. He bowed his head and put his face in his hands as the verdicts were read.
Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich was convicted on four counts.
A January 6 date was set for sentencing, and a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney said the pair could get anything from probation to as much as three years in jail.
The three were not charged in the 2007 death of Smith, known as a model, TV star and for marrying an 89 year-old oil billionaire. She died at age 39 from an accidental prescription drug overdose.
Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor, had all pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of fraudulently providing drugs and controlled substances to a known addict.
The jury reached its split verdict after 13 days of deliberations following a trial that saw the judge criticize prosecutors for being overly aggressive and throw out some of the original charges against the trio.
Prosecutors said the three conspired to provide the late fashion model and reality TV star with a cocktail of painkillers, muscle relaxants, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs by writing or seeking prescriptions using several false names. They said Smith was first treated for drug addiction in 1996.
Defense lawyers for the three said their clients cared for Smith and would not harm her, and argued she used the drugs to help her sleep and control severe pain.
"She (Anna Nicole) had a lot of problems. She was a good person and a friend," Eroshevich told reporters after the verdict, adding that she had few regrets.