I just left the Los Angeles Criminal Justice Center where I watched the arraignment of Howard K. Stern and two of the late Anna Nicole Smith’s doctors. They’ve each been charged with felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict. Surrounded by more than a dozen lawyers, they pled not guilty to the charges brought against them. The Commissioner took a recess to consult with the Coordinator for long-cause matters because, according to Stern’s attorneys, the preliminary hearing alone is anticipated to last two weeks. Usually preliminary hearings can last an hour up to one day. The long-cause coordinator approved the matter and the preliminary hearing is set for June 8 in Department 102.
More details on this to come later today.
Is two weeks really necessary? Yes, it is to get complete and thorough justice. We get as much justice as we can buy. I am sure many cases defended by the Public Defender would have an opposite outcome if we taxpayers footed the bill directly for such a thorough defense and paid the Public Defenders for an unlimited defense. In the cases of Howard K. and Dr.Kapoor and Dr. Eroshevich their defense will be partly (and maybe largely) paid by us taxpayers when one considers the major expenses of paying for judges, courtrooms, bailiffs, clerks, utilities, office expenses, rents of court buildings.
—I think it unfair and also a violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution that if one can afford a private lawyer, one gets far more Court time than someone who has limited money.
It was my opinion that Howard K. put on a puppet show with Ana Nicole Smith on “her” TV show. We watched her on the TV show and wondered what drugs she was taking. We watched Howard K., always around next to he or in the background, and wondered about his role in her performances or lack thereof. It seemed to me at the time that she was blatantly his puppet right in front of us on TV. Some of us instinctively felt so disgusted at her pitiful state that we quit watching her.
Now we may get to see another show as Howard K. and his two doctors explain away why felony drugging charges are in error. Or are they???—I think the expense of this trial is justified. There should have been similar trials in the deaths of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes, and others who have died from doctor drugs and iatrogenic medicine.
Not to mention all of the regular non-celebrity civilians who have easy access to abuse legal prescription drugs and feel ok about it bcz it was prescribed by their doctors.
probably closer scrutiny in the medical
establishment and the dispensing of narcotics should be monitored in a more
controlled manner with more oversight from some organization …I just hate the government becoming more involved…in anything more than they are…