Bodyguard to testify in drug conspiracy trial

[August 06, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A bodyguard who tried to revive Anna Nicole Smith as she lay lifeless in a Florida hotel room is taking the witness stand in the drug conspiracy trial of her lawyer boyfriend and two doctors.

Friday's expected appearance by Maurice Brighthaupt follows testimony Thursday during which police detective Katherine Frank said she found drug bottles, a duffel bag full of cash and a sobbing Howard K. Stern in the room where Smith died.

Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply Smith with vast amounts of powerful opiates and sedatives. They are not charged with causing her death.

Brighthaupt's testimony is expected to focus on changes he made in his story since 2007 when he was paid $150,000 for interviews with various cable TV outlets. He has claimed that many things he said then were lies intended to protect Smith's reputation.

On Thursday, Frank said that shortly after Smith's body was found and taken away, Stern fell to his knees in the room and began crying.

"He was visibly shaken, with reddened eyes, tears and trembling," Frank said.

The account was elicited by Stern's lawyer, Steve Sadow, who has said Stern was in love with Smith and all his actions were directed at trying to help her.

The detective said a duffel bag found in the room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel contained more than $8,000 in cash.

Under prosecution questioning, pharmacist Olga Kopetman identified multiple prescriptions written by Eroshevich, a psychiatrist, to Anna Nicole Smith, Vicky Marshall, which is Smith's real name, and three other names including Stearn, a misspelling of Stern, from 2003 to 2006. They were filled at a pharmacy in Studio City.

Some were for the painkiller Vicodin and anti-anxiety drugs Xanax and Zoloft. Others were for sleep and anti-seizure medications, the pharmacist said.

Stern paid for the drugs, Kopetman testified, with one bill totaling $4,474.

Kopetman and another pharmacist, Emma Avakian, testified that Stern frequently picked up drugs prescribed by Eroshovich, and that they never saw Anna Nicole Smith pick up her own prescriptions, which often included large quantities of drugs with refills available.

Avakian said one prescription for Valium provided 240 pills and was refilled after just three weeks.

[Associated Press; By LINDA DEUTSCH]

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