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Anna Nicole Smith doctors, boyfriend, face drugging trial
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Howard K. Stern
Two doctors and the boyfriend of dead Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith will stand trial for illegally furnishing her with a myriad of drugs, a Los Angeles judge ruled today.
Lawyer and boyfriend Howard K. Stern along with psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich and medical doctor Sandeep Kapoor were the focus of a two-week preliminary hearing in which prosecutors presented witnesses who testified about how the trio plied Smith with prescription medications that kept her in an addicted state.
Smith died in February 2007 of a prescription drug overdose while staying at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Seminole, Florida. A lengthy televised court hearing followed in which Stern, ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead and Smith's mother fought for custody over Smith's infant daughter. Birkhead eventually won custody and was a witness in this court proceeding.
He said that Smith was addicted to drugs, particularly Methodone, and he had conversations about weaning her off the narcotic with an uncooperative Stern. Their relationship ended after Smith checked into a hospital to detox and a frustrated Birkhead found Methodone in a duffel bag in the room. Stern, who slept in the room with Smith, did not seem to share Birkhead's concern and even previously accused Birkhead of hiding her Methodone, Birkhead testified.
Smith took dozens of prescription medications for pain and anxiety prescribed by the two doctors, according to testimony. Most of these were filled under false names and some were even variations of Stern's name. Prosecutors contend that the trio plied her with drugs in order to keep her doped up enough that she would continue to keep them within her inner circle of confidants.
Birkhead and Stern kept their distance during the hearing, with the former describing his relationship with Stern during the model's lifetime as "icy." The pair still have limited dealings with each other as Stern is the executor of Smith's estate.
Witnesses inclued Smith's bodyguard, doctors, and pharmacists.
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