Preliminary hearing begins for defendants in Anna Nicole Smith case

Hearing in Anna Nicole Smith case under way

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors began presenting testimony Tuesday to a judge in the preliminary hearing of a criminal case stemming from the drug-overdose death of celebrity model Anna Nicole Smith.

Smith’s former lawyer-boyfriend Howard K. Stern and two doctors arrived early at court to hear what evidence prosecutors have of a conspiracy to illegally provide Smith with controlled substances.

Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristina Eroshevich have pleaded not guilty.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry will determine at the end of the hearing whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

A California Department of Justice narcotics investigator was called as the first witness to testify about what was found in the Florida hotel room where Smith collapsed before her death on Feb. 8, 2007.

Danny Santiago, a supervisory special agent in narcotics enforcement, said there were 11 containers with 10 types of drugs including diazepam and clonazepam.

Some of the prescriptions were in Stern’s name, although some used an alternate spelling, Stearn, and some had been prescribed by Eroshevich, Santiago said.

Smith’s autopsy concluded she died of “acute combined drug intoxication” and the drugs involved were chloral hydrate combined with Benadryl, clonazepam, diazepam and lorazepam.

Stern’s attorney, Steve Sadow, has said he has not decided whether to call defense witnesses at the hearing.

Eroshevich’s attorney, Adam Braun, said he is unlikely to call witnesses of his own during the hearing, saving his client’s defense for the trial. Kapoor’s attorney, Ellyn Garafolo, has taken a similar position.

Prosecutors claim Stern aided and abetted the two doctors and allege that he obtained prescriptions for Smith under false names.

Search warrant affidavits suggest Stern put his name on prescriptions for opiates that were given to Smith, and claim 44 different medications were prescribed for Smith under a number of other names, including Stern’s.

Stern is named in all 11 counts of the complaint. The doctors each face six counts, including conspiracy, and if convicted could be sentenced to as much as five years, eight months in prison. It was not clear what sentence Stern might face if convicted.

Smith died in the midst of a long legal battle to collect millions of dollars from the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, owner of Great Northern Oil Co. Smith was 26 when she wed the 89-year-old tycoon. They met while she was a topless dancer at a Texas strip club.

That battle is unresolved. The estate ultimately may go to Smith’s daughter, now 3.

AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.