Posts Tagged “Judge Robert Perry”

Howard K. Stern and car at Preliminary hearing

It is the picture in this article, see red circle of the car, that spawn the gossip that Howard K. Stern was driving a new Mercedes Benz and how tasteless would that be?

First I have not seen the registration nor even the license plate number and until I do I am not buying this. It could be his parents, a rental car, one for his out of town attorneys, etc. However, what if Stern bought a “new Mercedes Benz”? I just don’t think that, it is not his kind of car and what one drives to court does not mean one owns it. Remember we have all heard the stories of Stern’s like for baseball caps and to dress down, so why a Mercedes Benz? For those of you who know cars look at the hood ornament on this silver car and tell me what kind of car it is? If Stern bought this or any other car big deal, if he got money from some of the lawsuits or contracts he negotiated and he chose to buy a new car with that money, great for him. I don’t get what all of the commotion is about. If you have a copy of a registration please scan it and send it on to us, if you prove to me he does own a new Mercedes I will eat my typed words on this blog.

It appears Stern did have one set back yesterday. Judge Robert Perry after hearing the amount of money that had been made since Anna Nicole Smith’s death from body guards to Larry Birkhead, he did agree that better accommodations should be provided to the Texas crew. So out of what is fondly called the roach motel and into better quarters Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine were entitled to. Stern’s team had paid the airfare although the duo with their attorney Neil McCabe changed it to a later flight on Monday morning, and Stern’s team had to pay for 2 nights lodging at a classier hotel. It came down to in court who was fibbing to the judge? Chris Smith, Stern’s California criminal attorney, said he had contacted the duo and had offered 48 hours notice before appearing. Mr. Smith argued that Neil McCabe should not be allowed to address the court as he was not licensed in California. In the end the Judge did allow Mr. McCabe to speak on behalf of his two Texas clients, asked what his clients wanted, asked the defense team if they were going to call them and then split the argument in half it appears to me. Stern paid the upgrade for the lodging and McCabe’s clients would be hustled out of town by Wednesday morning.

I talked to one person involved in the fiasco to be in town or not to be in town. They said the communications between Chris Smith and Wilma Vicedomine broke down when she emailed him and told him to talk and handle things through her lawyer, Neil McCabe, and Mr. Smith felt Mr. McCabe was not licensed in California. Is there hostility there on both sides?? YOU BET!!!!

However, the big news in all of this to me is that by Howard K. Stern’s legal team subpoenaing Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine as “hostile material” witnesses for Stern, neither Clark or Vicedomine will be allowed in court for any of the hearings including the trial. I would think that someone else will have to accompany Virgie Arthur to court each day and set with her during the jury trial. In your opinion was this a good move by Stern’s legal team?

It appears the good Dr. Nathalie Maullin is NOT an EXPERT witness, she is just a witness relaying the facts as she remembered them over two years later. I was told she had the personality of aluminum foil and would be a doctor that none of the patients including Anna Nicole Smith would have felt warm, snuggly, or even comfortable with. I went to work yesterday to find out more about Dr. Maullin with the ever changing “definitions and who she talked to” taking place in court. I can sum it up in one long sentence. She had been a doctor barely two years when she “treated” Anna Nicole Smith, and she has been downgraded from the prestigious Cedars Sinai Medical Center to Kaiser Hospital. Enough said.

The other two witnesses yesterday were two pharmacists, Steve Mazlin and Romeo V. Par; very dry testimony reading their records of what was ordered when and by whom.

There was a brief walk on witness to testify that one of Anna Nicole Smith’s alias names was Charlene Underwood and Ms. Underwood made a cameo appearance as this was not her.

Judge Robert J. Perry did not have a good day and is a tad upset with everyone, by yesterday afternoon he was telling Renee Rose to move the case along. Some in the court house heard her say out of court she could be finished by Friday before noon. Court Observers are betting it will last no longer than next Tuesday, October 27. Several Court Observers also said that all three defendants would be bound over for a criminal jury trial and Judge Perry would be happy to be rid of this mess from everyone. I would imagine he has empathy for the judge that inherits this for trial. BEFORE ALL OF YOU GET UPSET!!! Remember I predicted they would be held for trial on a minimum bond, the district attorney has to basically meet the bar of standards of a ham and cheese sandwich and the pharmacists alone probably did that for the prosecution. Judge Perry wants to be done with this. This preliminary hearing has allowed the defense team to see the assistant D. A. Renee Rose in action as well as some of her star witnesses and you can bet that by trial the defense team for each of the three defendants will be loaded for bear and ready to meet and bring reasonable doubt for their clients to a jury. It was Adam Braun, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich’s attorney, who said if the district attorney’s office could not meet the low hurdle required by California statute in a preliminary hearing the assistant district attorneys should be laid off. I agree and if I was any of the defense attorneys I would just let this round go to the State of California. We will see if my prediction is correct.

Now for Mo Mo making over a hundred and fifty thousand with money from interviews which is still probably pouring in from Fox, not bad for five months of work in the beautiful Caribbean with Anna Nicole Smith paying all of his expenses while he was there. His testimony is going to get to when did you lie, at the paid media deals or now at the hearing and on to the jury trial. If Sadow did in fact cause Mo Mo to become angry and agitated then the defense learned a lot from Mo Mo’s three days of testimony and I would bet they are going to go over that transcript with a fine tooth comb so to say. If I was Renee Rose I would make sure there were more people then just Mo Mo that saw what he claims to have seen, if he is the only one I predict that will not get far with a jury.

Next up is Larry Birkhead and the 2.3 million dollars paid since Anna Nicole Smith’s death, well part of it came from NBC contracts to be Tony Potts best paid friend with exclusives for 3 to 6 months back in the spring of 2007, how ever long that contract was for. So the over one million more I would say came from other media like Fox and CBS – Entertainment tonight, and I wonder if Birkhead was also adding up the magazine layouts he has done with Dannielynn since winning the DNA test? If he can make this kind of money GREAT, it means he has the dough to take care of his daughter.

I was sent an excerpt of something that suggested Birkhead was pocketing Dannielynn’s money and cheating Dannielynn trust account, WRONG. If Larry Birkhead is in the interviews or pictures sold, the money goes to him. If the money coming in is for the use of Anna Nicole Smith’s name and/or likeness it goes into Dannielynn’s trust account. IF at a later date Birkhead decides to be in a reality show, which again I heard the first editing was a bomb, then the money MADE by Dannielynn would have to be held for her in another trust account NOT the Estates. The same goes for if she appears in pictures alone or begins to model, that money would have to be held and accounted for, EVERY penny. Since Birkhead testified that he had made that much money there is no reason to doubt him. Birkhead has also become a household name in the last 2+ years as has many in this sad saga.

The big question is did Larry Birkhead lie about the young new assistant district attorney Sarah Slice and his conversation with her. If these allegations floating around the courthouse corridors and the district attorneys office are true and Birkhead did lie what a crappy thing to do to a young assistant district attorney, in my opinion. She was back in court yesterday and all was normal and she has learned to NEVER talk to a witness outside of the courtroom. The reason is because in court it can be spun to look like you did a naughty and the witness is the victim. I do have to say this fiasco got Birkhead international coverage and bumped Mo Mo from the papers, perhaps that was the plan all alone. If Birkhead lied about his conversations with Ms. Slice then shame on him to take advantage of a new and probably friendly attorney. I bet in all future hearings involving this trial, the state of California vs. these three defendants we will see two big burly bailiffs bring Birkhead in and out of court and Sarah Slice will never forget this hard learned lesson in the legal world of the rich and famous.

I have often said this site will close before it becomes a propaganda site for either side in all of these lawsuits. However, if I am told something and I can verify it through at least one and preferably with two other independent sources it will appear here and hopefully start a good dialogue.

I hope we have debunked part of the gossip and put perspective on the rest, and yes it was the courthouse discussion as it was in the offices for the district attorney that the allegations of Birkhead lying is true, I guess we will find out with time won’t we?

There is no court today and I believe the rest of the witnesses are not going to give us the fireworks that Mo Mo and Birkhead provided.

UPDATE: I did forget to mention that there is of course some main media in the courtroom as well as bloggers covering the case. Those bloggers sharing with me or telling me where to look, they are great and neutral…. HOWEVER, there are some bloggers in the courtroom that do not appear to be fair and unbiased, they have been identified as VA bloggers and now their identities are known and they will be dealt with appropriately.

Howard K. Stern hand that caused all of the gossip

So what is in Howard K. Stern’s hand?

Day six is completed and there is approximately 4 days left until Judge Perry hands this entire mess over to the trial judge for the case. Tell us your thoughts and would someone look up the car in this picture and tell us what the hell it is?

©Rose Turner
October 21, 2009
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

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Adam Braun with client Dr. Khristine Eroshevich

A young assistant D. A. by the name of Sarah Slice may not be back in court again. After Larry Birkhead testified that he felt like Slice had been inappropriate and wanting him to “ramp up” his testimony is Slice gone? Sarah Slice did not return to court after the lunch break and at the close of court another employee from the District Attorney’s office came in and picked up Slices papers and brief case. Slice did not answer her phone or return calls after court on Monday.

Sandi Gibbons the spokeswoman from the district attorney’s office said, “The matter is being discussed, and no decision has been made as to her further role in this case.” Sarah Slice has been an attorney less than a year… OUCH what a way to learn on the job.

On a break later, outside of the courtroom, Dr. Kapoor’s attorney Ellyn Gerafalo, said, “We’re distressed to learn of this attempt at witness intimidation.”

Birkhead finished up his two day testimony yesterday and before he left the stand Larry Birkhead answered Superior Court Judge Robert Perry questioned Birkhead, about if “he took this as a negative comment on his testimony”, Birkhead answered that he did.

Renee Rose a Los Angeles assistant D. A. pressured Larry Birkhead to reveal that since Anna Nicole Smith’s death he had been paid over $2 million dollars for interviews.

Rose went on trying to pressure Birkhead to get him to say Anna Nicole Smith was an addict of which Birkhead would not go there with Rose. Birkhead again clarified his testimony by recounting how Anna Nicole Smith would tell him, “I’m not a drug addict.” At that point again Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry turned to the Birkhead and asked if he ever had a conversation with Stern in which he used the word “addiction.” “No,” said Birkhead.

Assistant D. A. Renee Rose continued to press Birkhead on multiple issues, until the judge told her he had heard enough. “I think you’re done,” he said as she continued to raise new issues.

Next up was Dr. Nathalie Maullin an addiction specialist psychiatrist who has been practicing for six years which mean she had been a “specialist” for less than three years when she saw Anna Nicole Smith at Sinai Medical Center in the spring of 2006.

Where are these young guns ho “expert” witnesses coming from and did Maullin qualify as an “expert” or just a doctor/witness?

Dr. Maullin described Anna Nicole as a “difficult patient who was obviously going through withdrawal from multiple medications when she was admitted.” Maullin continued by saying that Smith came to the hospital in distress, sweating, having spasms in her arms and legs and with her eyes dilated. She said the symptoms showed that Smith had decided to “go cold turkey” and stop all drugs when she became pregnant, resulting in withdrawal. Maullin said she treated Smith for Methadone and Xanax addiction.

Maullin went on to testify that she talked to Smith and her companion Howard K. Stern to try to set up a program to wean Smith off of these two medications but found Anna Nicole Smith to be “uncooperative and hostile”. Maullin said the new regimen would have included hypnosis and acupuncture but Smith wasn’t interested. Smith angrily rejected a treatment program that included sessions with a psychologist and a complete cessation of sedatives and methadone.

Dr. Maullin testified that Anna Nicole would not “engage with her, would not make eye contact and was very hostile. She described Smith as saying; ‘”Give me my medication and leave me alone.” The psychiatrist said she told Smith and Stern that if she, [Anna Nicole Smith], wouldn’t comply with the hospital’s outpatient program, she needed to check into a rehab center. Smith’s reply was a stony glare. “When I asked her what she had been taking, she blew me off,” said Maullin.

Maullin said she contacted Smith’s physician, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and learned he had prescribed seven different drugs to Smith during the time she was seeking relief from pain. Maullin said that when Smith was asked questions, she would reply: “Ask Howard.” Maullin went on to say that during Smith’s hospital stay, Maullin tried to regulate the former model’s use of methadone for pain and remove her from a number of drugs known as benzodiazepines.

Muillin ended Monday’s testimony by saying that Anna Nicole Smith was very hostile with an attitude of “Give me my medications and leave me alone”.

“Smith had said, ‘I’ll do anything for my baby” Dr. Maullin recalled and that the hospital staff gave Smith methadone and the sedative Aptiva to start the process of weaning her off the prescriptions.

Dr. Nathalie Maullin was to continue her testimony Tuesday under direct examination by Renee Rose and then would be handed off to the defense for cross examination.

Stay updated throughout today as we have court observers who will tell us what is going on in court. I wonder if Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine will be called today as tomorrow is a full day off for the court.

UPDATE: Wilma Vicedomine, Don Clark with their attorney Neil McCabe appeared briefly as court began this morning. The Judge said they were not needed in court so they all three left. Our court observer said they did not know how long the judge might keep Clark and Vicedomine on hold.

UPDATE: Judge Perry has decided there was some type of communication problem with Stern’s lawyers and Don Clark, Wilma Vicedomine and agreed with their lawyer Neil McCabe that they be released from testifying in the preliminary hearing. The three Texans will be heading back to Texas to perhaps be called if and when this goes to trial.

©Rose Turner
October 20, 2009
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

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Beautiful Metro Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles

This is a “fun article” and one I have been laughing about since learning of it yesterday.

As Rose Speaks.com had previously said, Don Clark, Wilma Vicedomine and Tom Pirtle were served the night of October 13 to be in the court as hostile defense witnesses for Howard K. Stern the morning of October 14.

They went to a Harris County criminal court the morning of October 14 to fight the subpoenas and the judge gave in a tad or at least the date, the Harris county judge gave them until Tuesday, October 20, 2009 to appear in Los Angeles.

Thus what I call the dance began it seems whoever subpoenas you has to pay your expenses, which brings up Mo Mo again, and how much was he paid?

Anyway back to our article today. The defense team told Ms. Vicedomine that they were willing to do a 48 hour notice “IF” they decided to they wanted her to testify as a hostile witness for the defense. However, there was a glitch in that California was ok with that but the Texas crowd did not want to pay to go before a Harris county judge again. I “think” the defense team for Stern could have faxed the agreement to the Harris county judge that the Texas people were just on stand-by and possibly would not be needed.

However following a barrage of emails of if you want me I am coming Tuesday and Howard K. Stern is paying for everything under the statute for out of town and out of state witnesses.

Thus after a week going back and forth with Vicedomine insisting on Tuesday October 20 quoting the order from the Harris County judge, Stern’s legal team made the reservations and accommodations for Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine. I am “assuming” that Mr. Pirtle took the defense offer of a 48 hour notice if they need him.

At 3:00 AM yesterday, Sunday morning, the plane tickets and the lodging fell into Vicedomine’s email box.

The accommodations you ask? Well they booked them on a plane leaving Houston at 6 AM this morning, October 19, with several hours lay over in Phoenix. The five star accommodations is a tad lacking per Vicedomine, it is not a five star hotel it is not even a 2 star hotel and it is in the worse part of downtown L. A. It seems like the Stern legal team booked them into the Metro Plaza, see picture above and then one here.

Beautiful Metro Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles

When I interviewed Ms. Vicedomine for this article I have to make a full disclosure that I was laughing so hard I was doubled up and had to keep asking the same questions over and over. Funny I was the only one laughing she was NOT.

I asked her for a quote on the record as soon as I stopped laughing so hard I could get a full question out. Vicedomine was more than happy to give me one; “Thanks Howard for the roach infested ancient hotel, not funny”.

Remember that song Hotel California, I don’t remember the words but could this amusing antidote fit that song?

As one person close to the legal proceedings said to me, ask Wilma Vicedomine if she can spell R-E-V-E-N-G-E. This source also told me that Metro Plaza was raided about once a month to clear out the service industry that most used the hotel; you know that oldest profession known to mankind, which just made me laugh even harder this morning.

With that in mind it makes the Metro Plaza saying even funnier: “At the Metro Plaza Hotel, it’s all about you. You are our guest, our joie de vivre, our raison d’être. Come stay with us on your journeys and travels, and let us take care of you. Let our 80 luxuriously-appointed guest rooms and suites be your home away from home. Let us provide you with every convenience and comfort to see you through your days and nights with us. We will welcome you and treat you as a member of our family, one of our very own, as we attend to you and your needs. Let us have the privilege of being your pied-á-terre in the City of Angels . . . and let us show you how we’re all about you.”

I agree can you spell R-E-V-E-N-G-E?? I thought that this would be one of the lighter moods and articles through this whole saga. Why is it I have that Aretha Franklin song playing through my head today?

Stay with us today for the up to the minute coverage from multiple court observers who have agreed to share with Rose Speaks.com.

©Rose Turner
October 19, 2009
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

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Steve Sadow Howard K. Stern lead criminal attorney

I had court observers tell me over and over again this week, that before this preliminary hearing started they felt it had been a fatal error on Howard K. Stern’s part to bring in an out of state lead criminal attorney, Steve Sadow. It was thought that as many good criminal attorneys as there are in California and especially around the Los Angeles area that any jury would not relate to the southerner in cowboy boots, Steve Sadow.

During the preliminary hearing we have read from court observers that Judge Robert Perry stops Sadow as he is going into a long oratory before asking a question of something like “hold on, this is a preliminary hearing not a trial keep the questions short and to the point”. Then we had Daniel DiCriscio describing in just the morning session that Steve Sadow, lead criminal attorney for Howard K. Stern, was jumping up every few seconds to object to something the Los Angeles assistant district attorney, Renee Rose would began to ask to object.

However, that seems to be evened out by the judge not allowing a lot of evidence in about Anna Nicole Smith, her life, potential sex escapes, tapes etc. that Renee Rose is trying to introduce. One witness blames Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich as Mo Mo did, and then another witness does not know anything about Dr. Khris but did talk to Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and so the “show goes”.

“Show”?? Yea but about a real person’s life and every facet of it more then two years after her death, I keep asking myself why?

Did we need to know about all of her physical ailments? Did we need to know, as one writer, said where even the remote to her T. V. was kept? Did we need the dueling banjos of testimony of Mo Mo followed by Larry Birkhead to dispute that fact? Birkhead explained what seemed to be a far more logical explanation and one I had heard way back in the spring or early summer of 2007. If I could find this why did the “lead investigator” Danny Santiago NOT find this?

Everyone who is a court observer agrees that the most damning evidence to date is Mo Mo, after all he was with her the last 5 months of her life. By the way if he did that because he loved her and never got paid, doesn’t that mean he lived off of Anna Nicole Smith in the beautiful Caribbean as the fingers he pointed at Stern seemed to indicate? Why was Mo Mo willing to lie for months and months and then decided he wanted to set the record straight? For that matter which record is he sticking to finally? I have so many questions about the devoted Mo Mo and so few answers.

I have heard it said that Howard K. Stern better hope that Sadow has a big enough bat to handle Mo Mo or his legal name of Maurice Brighthaupt, and does he? Well I talked to several court observers after the almost 3 days of Mo Mo then followed by the southern voice of Larry Birkhead and here are some things they are saying. First and foremost to date the only damning witness has been Mo Mo, but let’s look at that and what some have not written about.

Under cross examination Sadow was able to agitate Mo Mo, that won’t play good to a jury for Mo Mo to appear like a giant ex bodyguard with an axe to grind with Anna Nicole Smith’s Estate which equates to Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead. One court observer told me about this last week that they did not care for Sadow personally but that he was “very likeable” and that is what plays to a jury. If the lawyer is likeable and has some good points and can agitate the top witness to date that does not bode well for the prosecution. One court observer told me, it does not matter if you like Sadow personally he is one hell of a likeable lawyer in court. Here is my own interpretation of what MIGHT have happened between Mo Mo and Sadow in just one question and all of you have posed some great questions here on the blog by the way. Sadow: “So Mo Mo which time are we to believe when you are choosing to tell the truth, now or when you were being paid over a hundred grand for appearances when you said something entirely different”? Mo Mo, gets agitated and glaring at the lawyer and said: “This time I am just now trying to set the record straight”. Now agitated and that lame of an excuse for lying while the money was coming in but not now, how do you think that is going to play to a jury?

I had heard the account given by Larry Birkhead about the AMA show before and have written about it. Allegedly Anna Nicole Smith had a grand mal seizure the night before her appearance. Two doctors were called and both said to give her a double dose of her seizure medication. As hard as it is for most of us to believe the beautiful Anna Nicole Smith had anxiety before a public appearance and especially for this one with her weight loss. She had insomnia and had not slept for thirty six hours straight. I have heard “gossip” that besides the seizures and no sleep she had taken a Xanax several hours before she was to appear to try to sleep. Did Mo Mo have any explanation for that? Another witness who is suppose to give damning evidence is Nathan Collins but even he told me he had asked around and had talked to Kim, Anna Nicole’s personal assistant for years and had been told way back in 2005 the same recounts as Larry Birkhead gave on Friday. So could Mo Mo have just forgotten all of that as the months and years have gradually slid past?

Then there are all of the horrid things we are learning about the health and habits of this beautiful previous playmate of the year turned model. Did any of us really or need to know about everything she suffered from? Did any of us want to really know about her personal habits including liking to drink out of a baby bottle, keeping baby food snacks near her bed and all of the other very personal things we are now finding out? I did not and it kind of makes me physically sick, how about each of you?

This brings up an email I found I still had from 2007, it is talking to someone else, now remember I have never spoken to Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead, Virgie Arthur, Mo Mo and most of the people in this saga and certainly NONE of Anna Nicole’s inner circle. However let me recount in part what this email says. Remember at one time I did do some domestic violence advocacy work and I can say for certain that adult survivors of child abuse are almost impossible to reach out to or help. In this email I say “I have been able to “VERIFY”…. I have no idea who I was talking about when I said “verify”. However, the email goes on to say, “there were at least four different personalities of Anna Nicole and she referred to them as this. Vickie Lynn is the girl that came from Mexia Texas, Nickie was the stripper, Anna Nicole was the model and red carpet walker, and Robin was a little girl”. I believe in the email I am musing could one of the secrets that Stern has vowed to protect in death could be the fact that Anna Nicole suffered from multiple personalities? I don’t know but those of you who have read the last week and followed Anna Nicole Smith in life, could that be true? If it is do we have the right to know all of that now over 2 years after her death?

So in the end as it appears now that all of Anna Nicole Smith’s secrets will come out will Steve Sadow have a big enough legal bat to handle those like Mo Mo as Howard K. Stern dearly hopes so? Share with us your thoughts today before the kick off of week two of the preliminary hearing and more behind the scenes habits and illnesses of Anna Nicole Smith.

We will take up our live coverage tomorrow as court reconvenes, October 19, 2009. Stay tuned here at Rose Speaks.com as we keep you up to date as the hearing unfolds from multiple court room observers.

©Rose Turner
October 18, 2009
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

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Howard K. Stern with lead attorney Steve Sadow

Court started at 8:30 AM this morning, October 15, 2009 on day three of the preliminary hearing in Los Angeles California. First up is the cross examination by defense attorney Steve Sadow of yesterday’s star prosecution witness, Maurice, “Big Mo” Brighthaupt. That has been listed by many court observer as taking up the full morning for the most part.

After lunch the question is will Larry Birkhead, appear, he will be pro Howard K. Stern but might be hostile to Dr. Kapoor and Dr. Eroshevich. Adam Braun, attorney for Eroshevich, said he might attempt to have Birkhead’s testimony postponed because he had just received an audio tape from the state of Birkhead’s interview with them and has not had time to fully examine it.

The state is keeping their cards close as to what witnesses will be appearing on which days. There are hints around the courthouse that Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry may shut down the preliminary hearing early next week. He is showing some impatience often heard saying, “This is not murder trial” and “Whose fault is it that somebody takes too many pills?”

I keep going back to why a public preliminary hearing which is a basic walk through preview of what might come up at trial, in lieu of a Grand Jury which the outcome would have been a finding of enough evidence to go to trial. They both, I am told, end up at the same place so why this, and not the close door hearing?

Maurice, “Big Mo” Brighthaupt, one of Anna Nicole Smith’s body guards, I am told by one court observer, came across as very believable and would be hard to shake from his testimony yesterday. Let’s see how this plays out with Steve Sadow, Howard K. Stern’s lead attorney who took charge first thing this morning.

We don’t know if Don Clark is still in California as a “material hostile witness” for Howard K. Stern, but Neil McCabe is now back in Houston to our understanding. However, we have not been able to confirm that. Neil McCabe we can now confirm was not in court yesterday and has not been seen in court today. We have now been able to confirm for you that both Don Clark and Neil McCabe are back in Houston today.

LOS ANGELES — The AP is reporting that; “A judge has barred testimony about an alleged sexual relationship between Anna Nicole Smith and a female doctor accused of providing her with excessive medication.” Prosecutors attempted to question Smith’s former bodyguard Thursday about an alleged relationship between the late model and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry shut down the line of questioning, saying he didn’t think it was relevant.

UPDATE ONE AND BOMBSHELL ONE FOR TODAY: Maurice, “Big Mo” Brighthaupt is still testifying for the prosecution and has stated it was Larry Birkhead that furnished Anna Nicole Smith with Ecstasy and champagne to wash it down, at the Music awards in 2004. Mo further testified that every time he took the champagne away from Anna Nicole, Birkhead replaced it with a new glass full. It will be later today before Steve Sadow, Stern’s lawyer can try to chip away at that. What will this do to the “boy next door” image of Dannielynn’s father? The court is out on it’s morning break right now and it appears that at least one more Assistant D. A. is coming into court with notes if not to remain for testimony following the break.

UPDATE TWO: Good chance that Larry Birkhead will not testify today. As Maurice “Big Mo” Brighthaupt continues his slamming of all of the defendants except Dr. Kapoor, it appears the defense is not going to get a chance to question him today. This day has been consumed for the most part by Assistant D. A. Renee Rose ongoing examination of “Big Mo”. If Steve Sadow begins today he will not finish today, which pushes Birkhead back to testifying tomorrow, if he appears at all. Why is the sensationalized site of TMZ.com not carrying anything about “Big Mo” testifying today against Birkhead and the drugs swigged down with champagne or for that matter his apparent willingness to testify against Dr. Eroshevich about her alleged possible affair with Anna Nicole Smith? However, at other times it seems that “Big Mo” wants to then take up for Dr. Eroshevich at times in his testimony saying she was concerned for Smith also and even gave Smith placebos.

UPDATE THREE: Larry Birkhead is in the courthouse, briefly walked into the court room and then just left again, not sure why. Stay tune we don’t know if Mo’s cross examination is finished and if so what Sadow was able or willing to do without showing his full hand before the trial which is now predicted to being going to start in February or March 2010, still trying to verify that.

UPDATE LAST FOR TODAY: “Big Mo” will be back on the witness stand tomorrow morning for redirect examination by L. A. assistant D. A. Renee Rose; that is expected to last for 1 to 1 & 12/ hours. That will be followed by Larry Birkhead beginning at about 10 AM tomorrow on day four of the Howard K. Stern, Dr. Kapoop and Dr. Dr. Eroshevich.

Keep up with Rose Speaks throughout the day tomorrow as we bring you the up to minute happening in California in the Howard K. Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich preliminary hearing, we have several court watchers rotating in and out of the court room giving us the feel of the court, I am sure each one will have that person’s personal take of this.

©Rose Turner
October 15, 2009
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