The Miami criminal defense lawyers at Musca Law have followed the winding, tragic case of Anna Nicole Smith over the past few years. Smith, who was born Vickie Lynn Marshall, died two years ago from a drug overdose at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino here in south Florida. The case attracted national media attention, as well as significant negative coverage for her partner, Howard K. Stern, an attorney not to be confused with famed comedian Howard Stern.
Howard K. Stern is in the spotlight again, says Miami criminal attorney John Musca. Stern has been charged with conspiring to provide Smith with controlled substances in California. Prosecutors have also charged two physicians for providing Smith with drugs, as well. Stern was taken into custody, but he is now out on a $20,000 bond for his drug charge. The doctors charged in the case, Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich, allegedly knowingly wrote prescriptions for Smith using fake names. If they are convicted, Miami criminal attorneys say both could lose their licenses to practice medicine. Additionally, Stern and the doctors face the possibility of years in prison if convicted. Nonetheless, they maintain that Smith's best interest was always the foremost consideration. ''Dr. Eroshevich did her best to help the patient while protecting what little privacy Anna had left. Any actions were done with the patient's well-being in mind and were certainly not criminal," says Eroshevich's criminal defense lawyer in California.
Anna Nicole Smith was only 39 years old at the time of her death. She had two children, one of whom predeceased her by a matter of months. Daniel Smith was 20 when he died in the hospital where his mother had given birth to a little girl, apparently from a deadly combination of drugs including the opiate methadone. The baby, Dannielynn Birkhead, was born just three days before her brother's death. Dannielynn was later the subject of a well-publicized and bitter paternity dispute between several men. Ultimately, Larry Birkhead established paternity and Dannielynn now lives with him.
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