Doctors, boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith go on trial on drug charges

Aug 5, 2010, 1:52 GMT

Los Angeles - The former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith and two of her doctors went on trial Wednesday charged with illegally supplying prescription drugs to the controversial Playboy model and actress who died in 2007 in Florida from a drug overdose.

Los Angeles County prosecutor Renee Rose claimed that the three defendants - boyfriend Howard K Stern, her doctor Sandeep Kapoor and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich - chose to 'funnel' Smith with prescription sedatives and opiates despite knowing of her addiction.

Rose said that furnishing an addict with drugs, without proper medical purpose, under false names and in excessive quantities were criminal acts.

'We trust our doctors with the most precious thing we have, which is our health,' Rose said, according to the Los Angeles Times. 'When you see all the evidence in this case, you will see that trust was violated, that responsibility, promise broken.'

A lawyer for Howard K Stern, who was Smith's partner and lawyer, told jurors his client had relied on doctors recommendations when he gave her the pills.

'He cared for her, he cherished her, he loved her,' attorney Steve Sadow was quoted as saying. 'Howard K Stern is not a doctor ... Howard K Stern relied in good faith in the medical judgments of doctors.'

A voluptuous blonde, Smith became an international celebrity when she married oil billionaire J Howard Marshall in 1994, a man who was 63 years older than her. His death 14 months later sparked a multimillion dollar legal fight over his estate, which is still ongoing.