Guilty Pleasure

As a Los Angeles native I have to admit that following the Anna Nicole Smith saga, a staple of reality television and tabloid news, has been hard to avoid. I continue to see coverage of her life in the tabloids, but after I read some articles on her estate battle with her deceased husband’s family, I became intrigued by the legal intricacies in the case and the shenanigans of Smith and her lawyers. I even wrote a few articles on the subject, which you can find on this blog.  The case has been with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since May 2006.  However, just last week there was some movement in the case, instigated by Smith’s former lawyer-turned-beau, Howard K. Stern.

Here’s a quick thumbnail sketch of the case: Smith married the elderly J. Howard Marshall, II in 1994 in Texas; he passed away 14 months later.  Smith then discovered that she was not named as an heir in Marshall’s detailed estate plan – having already given her plenty of funds, but left his estate to his son. Undaunted, Smith claimed that, shortly before his death, Marshall told her –and her alone- that he would leave her a sizeable chunk of his estate. While the case was being deliberated in a Texas probate court, Smith hatched a secondary desperate attempt by filing for bankruptcy in a California court.  Please note:  She did have residency in California – because she never even lived with J. Howard!  I digress.  Even though the Texas jurors ultimately denied Smith her fantasy inheritance, evidence entered in the Texas case was inadmissible in the California bankruptcy court. Consequently, a judge awarded $447 million to Smith, without having viewed Marshall’s estate plan at all. Confused yet? The California case (called Marshall v. Marshall because she sued under her married name) was eventually appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and it’s been a bloodbath ever since. Over a 10 year+ period, Smith, with Stern’s help, has clogged the courts with tactics using moral, ethical and legal judgment which is questionable at best. Stern also became executor of Anna Nicole’s estate when she died in 2006. On her behalf – or on behalf of the percentage he’d be entitled to if her estate inherited anything- he recently filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court. This was yet another desperate attempt to overturn the 9th Circuit panel decision and instigate some activity with the Marshall v. Marshall case. Too bad for Stern, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy rejected his efforts on Friday to expedite the action in the 9th Circuit.

You think that’s complicated?  The latest revelation in Smith’s mysterious death has pushed Stern from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. The California Attorney General implicated Stern as one of Smith’s drug enablers, and charged him Thursday with six felony counts. Stern, along with two doctors, are alleged to have plied the model and actress with thousands of prescription pills in the months preceding her fatal overdose. After a two year probe involving Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor, L.A. County prosecutors had amassed enough evidence through public officials, medical and insurance records and the DEA, to issue a warrant for Stern’s arrest in Whittier, California, with bail set for $20,000. The two doctors were also charged with felonies for their roles in the conspiracy. The charges filed Thursday include unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict. Stern faces six felony counts and the doctors face seven each. Each count carries a potential sentence of three years, according to California Attorney General Jerry Brown. The motives behind these nefarious actions remain to be seen, but Brown speculated that the allure of wealth, fame and glamour played some role. In a recent press conference, Brown voiced his strong views on those who “pump innocent and often vulnerable people full of…cocktails of methadone and antidepressants and sleeping pills and Xanax” which inevitably lead to an “explosion.”  Brown also referenced video footage of Smith shortly before her death, saying that she was clearly “drugged to the point of stupification” (sic).

Yes, folks, it’s been a busy week for Stern, and it appears the fun has just started. Fame. Power. Drugs. Death. Hollywood history is rife with examples of how this scenario has played out time after time. Paging Lady Justice…it might be soon time to unsheathe that sword once more.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.