Warrants Issued in Anna Nicole's Death
By ROBERT JABLON and PAUL ELIAS,
AP
Posted: 2007-10-13 03:21:27
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 13) - Eight months and 2,300 miles away from where Anna Nicole Smith died of an overdose,
California authorities raided homes and offices of the doctors who
prescribed drugs to the former Playboy Playmate.
California Department of Justice agents on Friday raided the
office of Smith's psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and the
home and office of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, who prescribed the
painkiller methadone to Smith shortly before her death.
Lester Cohen, WireImage.com
California Attorney General Jerry Brown has issued search warrants related to the death of Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith on Feb. 8. Among those being investigated is psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich.
In all, six locations were raided, said Sandi Gibbons,
spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Authorities did not name the doctors but their attorneys confirmed
the searches.
Smith died of an accidental drug overdose in February at a
Florida hotel. She was 39.
The department began investigating in March because "dangerous
drugs ... were part of the death of Anna Nicole Smith, and I
learned that these were California doctors and California
prescriptions," Attorney General Jerry Brown said at a news
conference.
Brown declined to speculate on what charges the doctors might
face if it was determined they improperly prescribed drugs, but
indicated they might be serious. Noting the ongoing Medical Board
investigation, Brown said there could be violations of the medical
practice code.
"You don't go to a judge and get a search warrant for
somebody's home unless you think some rather serious crime has been
committed," Brown said.
Eroshevich's attorney, Gary Lincenberg, told KNBC-TV that the
investigation only concerned whether prescriptions to Smith were
proper. "This has nothing to do with whether or not Dr. Eroshevich
in any way contributed to Anna Nicole Smith's death," he said.
Ellyn Garafalo, a lawyer for Kapoor, confirmed the doctor's home
and offices were searched but declined to comment further.
The Medical Board of California also is investigating both
Kapoor and Eroshevich. According to documents, Eroshevich
authorized all 11 prescription medications found in Smith's hotel
room the day she died. Eroshevich had traveled with Smith to
Florida.
More than 600 pills, including 450 muscle relaxants, were
missing from prescriptions that were no more than five weeks old,
according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press through
a public records request.
Brown said he did not know if the criminal probe could lead to
exhumation of Smith's body, which is buried in the Bahamas. He said
investigators have learned "quite a lot" from Bahamian
authorities but he declined to be specific on grounds that it might
jeopardize the investigation.
Asked if the probe would expand to include Smith's son, Daniel,
who died of a drug overdose in the Bahamas less than five months
before his mother, Brown replied: "We're not setting any limits on
this investigation."
Agents have so far reviewed over 100,000 computer images and
files, analyzed patient profiles and pharmacy logs and interviewed
witnesses throughout the country and abroad, Brown said.
Several doctors have gone to prison because they prescribed
painkillers for patients who died.
In Florida, Dr. Freddie J. Williams got a federal life sentence
in 2004 for prescribing oxycodone that led to two deaths, and Dr.
James Graves was sentenced to 63 years in state prison for four
manslaughter counts in 2002 linked to his prescriptions.
The current investigation could lead to state charges either in
California or Florida, or federal charges if the government decides
it wants to send a signal that overprescribing drugs won't be
tolerated, Armour said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a
statement that his office will file charges "as appropriate,"
after evaluating results of the search warrants.
Paul Elias reported from San Francisco. Associated Press Writers
Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles and Matt Sedensky in Miami
contributed to this story.
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2007-10-12 12:37:48
