Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend off hook
LOS ANGELES — More than eight years later, could the farce-turned-tragedy of Anna Nicole Smith finally be close to over?
A judge on Wednesday dismissed two felony conspiracy convictions against Smith's lawyer-boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, ruling it would be unfair to prolong the six-year-old criminal case involving prescription drugs provided to Smith.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry cited numerous problems with the case against Stern that centered on his role in obtaining prescription drugs for Smith before the Playboy model and reality TV star died of an accidental overdose in February 2007 in a hotel room at an Indian reservation casino near Hollywood, Fla.
Smith's then-mysterious death, coming just five months after she gave birth to a baby girl and after the drug-related death of her 20-year-old son Danny, occupied media attention for months, both for Smith's reality-TV celebrity and for her role in an important U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an inheritance case.
Smith's tabloid life turned out to be just as tumultuous in death, and helped launch the unrelenting rise of online celebrity-obsessed tabloid journalism.
Stern had been Smith's lawyer, manager, lover and friend since they met in 2001. Testimony showed they were inseparable, even when she was involved with other men, such as Larry Birkhead, the father of her baby, Danielyn, who's now 8 and lives with her father.
At one point, Stern and Smith staged a commitment ceremony on a catamaran off the Bahamas, exchanging rings and vows, but they were never legally married.
After her overdose, authorities pursued Smith's doctors and Stern, accusing them of committing crimes prior to her death. In 2010, Stern, 46, was convicted of the two conspiracy counts but was acquitted of all other charges of conspiracy, excessive prescribing of opiates and sedatives to an addict, and fraudulently obtaining drugs by using false names.
The case has been the subject of years of appeals. After Perry previously dismissed the two conspiracy charges, prosecutors appealed to the California Supreme Court, which ruled in November that Stern could be re-tried on the counts and left it to Perry to decide the outcome.
Perry noted in his ruling Wednesday that the case had been hanging over Stern's head for more than six years and said he believed the lead prosecutor during the trial had been overzealous in pursuing a conviction.
"This case reeks of unfairness," Perry said.
The judge said prosecutors seemed to be unfairly targeting Stern because he was a public figure and noted the expense in pursuing the case. Perry estimated that just running the courtroom over the course of the 50-day trial cost taxpayers $500,000.
A prosecutor declined to say after the hearing if an appeal would be filed.
Stern's lawyer, Steve Sadow, said he hoped the district attorney's office would not pursue the case any further. "I sincerely hope that the D.A. keeps the strong, forceful and true words of Judge Perry and allows this case to end," Sadow said.
Stern's lawyers have long argued that Smith was the love of Stern's life and that he would never harm her. Using false names, or in some instances issuing prescriptions to Smith in Stern's name, was done to protect Smith's privacy, his lawyers argued.
Besides, Sadow argued, Stern did not know it was illegal to obtain prescriptions under false names. He said Stern was relying on medical professionals to help Smith deal with chronic pain.
Perry agreed and noted that other doctors and hospitals had also used false names for Smith to protect her privacy from "the prying eyes of the ever-present" media in Smith's life.
As for the doctors, prescriptions from Smith's psychiatrist, Khristine Eroshevich, for opiates, muscle relaxants and other drugs were found in the Florida hotel room where Smith died.
The jury in 2010 also convicted Eroshevich of conspiracy charges. She was sentenced in April to a year of probation, which she has already served, after Perry reduced one of the counts against her to a misdemeanor and dismissed the other because it was redundant.
Smith's internist, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted of all charges. Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor were not charged with causing the death of Smith.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney tried to persuade Perry on Wednesday that he should not impose the "draconian sanction" of dismissal and said his office was trying to protect lawfully obtained felony convictions.
He said Stern's conduct differed from the medical professionals who treated Smith, because the lawyer knew his girlfriend was obtaining prescriptions from multiple doctors.
Carney declined comment after the hearing, but told Perry his criticism of the prosecution was akin to an ambush.
Associated Press Writer Linda S. Zhang contributed to this report.