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Anna Nicole's Longtime Companion Ask Judge to Throw Out Two Conspiracy Charges
(CNS) Posted Tuesday November 30, 2010 – 1:04pm
Defense attorneys for the late Anna Nicole Smith's longtime companion are asking a judge to dismiss two conspiracy charges on which he was recently convicted, court papers released today show.Howard K. Stern's lawyers, Steven H. Sadow and J. Christopher Smith, wrote in their seven-page court filing that "there is no substantial evidence to support guilt.'
The defense attorneys contend "the district attorney selectively targeted Mr. Stern for prosecution," although "using so-called 'false names' on medications intended for well-(known) celebrities is common practice in Los Angeles to protect privacy, and prescribing doctors, much less third parties, have never been criminally prosecuted under the false name statutes."
In a separate filing, the defense asked the judge to grant a new trial for Stern or to reduce the charges to misdemeanors.
After 13 days of deliberations, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Oct. 28 convicted Stern, now 42, of two charges that he conspired to provide prescription medications to the onetime Playboy Playmate and reality star.
Stern -- who had also been Smith's attorney -- was acquitted of seven other charges, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance.
Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, a psychiatrist who had lived next door to Smith in Studio City, was convicted of two conspiracy charges and one count each of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and unlawfully obtaining a prescription by giving a false name.
Jurors deadlocked on two other counts against the doctor, who turned 63 this month.
A third defendant, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, 42, was acquitted of all six charges against him.
The three were not charged with Smith's Feb. 8, 2007, accidental drug overdose death in Florida at age 39.
Stern and Eroshevich are due back before Judge Robert J. Perry for sentencing on Oct. 6.
They could face anywhere from probation to about three years in prison, according to Sandi Gibbons of the District Attorney's Office.
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