Closing Arguments End in Anna Nicole Smith Trial

Studio City residents played prominently in the closing arguments of the trial against two doctors and a longtime friend of Anna Nicole Smith, the model and actress who brought her E! Channel reality show to the neighborhood.

Two days of closing arguments ended Tuesday (Oct. 5), and the jury could begin deliberations by late Wednesday.

Prosecutor Renee Rose said in closing arguments that the medications meant for the model were all written under false names, saying, "It's not about privacy, folks. It's about hiding the medication so no one knows what they're doing.''

Former Studio City resident Howard K. Stern, Smith's longtime friend, agent and lawyer who figured prominently in the reality TV show, is being accused on charges of conspiring to furnish drugs to an addict.

Also charged in the case are two doctors who work in Studio City and are neighbors of Smith's, Kristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor.

The case does not involve any charges with 39-year-old Smith's accidental drug overdose that happened in Florida on Feb. 8, 2007.

In testimony, Eroshevich talked about being Smith's next-door neighbor on Avenida Del Sol off Coldwater Canyon Boulevard, where Smith lived since 2005. Eroshevich became "the most important person in her circle" and "the lifeline to this medication," Rose said in closing arguments.

Stern faces nine felony charges including conspiracy, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance, obtaining a prescription for opiates by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

Kapoor and Eroshevich are each charged with six felony counts, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance, prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Eroshevich's attorney, Bradley Brunon, said that Smith was devastated after the death of her 20-year-old son in September 2006, just after her daughter was born, and that they were doing "the best she could in the most difficult circumstances you can imagine.''

Witnesses in the trial said Eroshevich was dealing with the model's persistent demands to take pills constantly, and the doctor as trying to keep her on a regular sleeping and eating schedule. The doctor also helped pay for some of Smith's expenses.

City News Service contributed to this report.