Six days have gone by and the jury is still deliberating in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case.  According to the Associated Press, there are 21 separate decisions the panel is evaluating regarding Smith’s former lawyer/lover Stern and Drs. Kapoor and Eroshevich.  Because there are multiple charges against each defendant, the jury will answer a list of questions as to why the defendants are found guilty, if convicted.  For instance, the jurors will be asked “to answer true or not true to whether the defendants conspired to unlawfully prescribe, administer or dispense a controlled substance to an addict.”  The jury must reach a unanimous decision on each charge and with the complex instructions given by Judge Perry, this lengthy trial may drag on.  As of now the jury talked for over 30 hours about the outcome – an outcome which is expected to “reverberate among doctors and pain management patients whose need for drugs is at the heart of California laws.”  Stay tuned for the latest trial updates!

Today is the third day of deliberations, and jurors are questioning the charges in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial. Jurors asked Judge Perry to explain the charges against Howard K. Stern for “unlawfully prescribing drugs” to Smith.  Clearly, the jury does not understand that Stern is charged as a co-conspirator and not an actual prescriber of medication.  The panel was told that “if they find either Dr. Sandeep Kapoor or Dr. Khristine Eroshevich guilty of prescribing drugs unlawfully, they may then consider whether Stern aided and abetted them.”  They were also told that a person “who aids and abets is equally guilty of a crime.”  Stay tuned for the latest!