Posts Tagged “Maurice “Big Mo” Brighthaupt”

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.

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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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Anna Nicole Smith body guard Maurice

This morning, I went to the preliminary hearing at the court building in downtown LA. When I arrived at the courts, out front was a small group of press awaiting for the arrivals of the Anna Nicole Smith Players (Howard K. Stern, Dr. Khristine Eroschevich, and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor). I was kind of shocked at how little interest there seemed to be from the media judging by how many were there. When I started to walk to the building, I was shot by paparazzi and TMZ did a quick interview with me. TMZ asked me what my thoughts were on all of this and so on, and at the end asked me if I was sporting an Anna Nicole Smith type of hairstyle today, and I was like “Of Course!” LOL!

When I got inside the building the line to go through the security check was unbelievably long. While I was waiting in line, Dr. Khristine Eroschevich and John J. Nazarian were entering the building as flashbulbs from the press blinded them. They ended up behind me in line at the security check in. I noticed right away that Dr. Khris muted her blond color with lowlites, and she was wearing a brown skirt suit and quite high “wedgie” platform heeled slingback shoes.

When I got to the floor where the “preliminary” was being heard, I once again had to go through another “security check”. When I made it through the check, I entered the floor only to see Howard K. Stern directly in front of me, standing alone with his hands clasped in front of him in front of the court room doors, and we made direct eye contact with one another. Then his “legal” team, led by Steve Sadow with J. Chris Smith, arrived and he went into the court room with them.

Dr. Khris and John J. Nazarian were next to arrive on the floor and Dr. Khris gave me a sweet hello, as well as John. Then everyone was to be in the courtroom and take their seats, Dr. Khris with her attorney, Adam Braun, and Dr. Kapoor with his attorney, Ellyn Garafalo Esq.! Someone said to one of the reporters in reference to Larry Birkhead, and if he will arrive…”If there is a camera, Larry will show up!”

It was a small courtroom, very nicely air-conditioned, and I was happy about that! There may have been about 20 people that were attending this preliminary hearing, not counting Howard K Stern, Dr. Kris, and Dr. Kapoor, who were all seated in front of California Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry, with the legal teams. Today Howard K. Stern was not seated at the table with everyone else today he was seated behind them, to the right, with a “slumped over” posture.

The Preliminary Hearing started with inquiries as to why the Nannies haven’t returned calls to the defense attorneys, and Judge Perry said “They don’t have to”, and quickly wanted to move forward. He didn’t want to hear that the Nannies’ couldn’t afford to call in or “phone card” ideas, or even “collect calls”.

Daniel DiCriscio, Howard K. Stern Preliminary Hearing day 3

Steve Sadow was reprimanded and asked to delete a photograph from his cell phone from Judge Perry, so it wouldn’t end up on the internet, and Mr. Sadow said he would. Nazarian and a reporter, whom said he was from CNN, were almost kicked out of the courtroom for having an outburst of emotion from something said that they didn’t agree with, and Judge Perry made it “very” clear that there were to be none of that behavior allowed or they would be cleared out of the courtroom. Judge Perry was blood red when he reprimanded them.

Then, in walks Maurice “Big Mo” Brighthaupt who took to the witness stand once again. “Big Mo” was wearing a black plaid suit with a siren red shirt. The colors in the courtroom were very drab, and Mo’s red shirt was the only thing that kept my eyes entertained.

When “Big Mo’ started to answer questions that were “ricocheted” at him, he answered mostly ever question, it seemed, honestly and heartfelt. His temperament throughout was very even. In no way was “Big Mo” condescending or rude at all. Standing at six foot six, he at one point of the preliminary had to stand up from sitting in the witness box because his legs were cramping from being in such a small area. Judge Perry said he could stand if he wanted, but I feel that Big Mo was too polite to go against the grain.

The statements that were made from “Big Mo” regarding Anna Nicole were very sad. To hear that Anna Nicole Smith almost drowned in the pool at Horizon’s, and the way Big Mo told it, made my heart cry. It seemed that after Daniel died, Anna was very very depressed and slept a lot of her days away, plus was on heavy medication. Big Mo said she went to the pool one day and was going to go into her floater so she could relax, but Anna went outside “unsupervised” and Big Mo said they heard a big splash in the house. Stern told Big Mo to go and check on Anna, and Big Mo was saying that Anna was already at the bottom of the pool, under 7 or 8 feet of water, so Big Mo dove in to save her. He said Anna defecated herself when she was under the water. Big Mo also stated that he got Anna out of the pool and gave her CPR, and water came out of her mouth. He also said that Anna had defecated herself sometimes while she was sleeping, etc, and that the house people used to talk angrily about it because they didn’t want to clean up after her.

Also Big Mo told the courtroom of how he used to have to whisper to people so Anna couldn’t hear. He would have secret sessions with Dr. Khris, etc, in another room. He said that Anna would “explode” if she knew people were talking. Also he stated that if Howard K Stern found out of the whisperings, sometimes Big Mo and Dr. Khris, Howard would run to Anna and “tattle” on them.

Judge Perry said at one point regarding the silly questions being asked by assistant D. A. Renee Rose, “This is a preliminary hearing not a trial, to see if there is probable cause exists, not a circus sideshow!”

Big Mo talked about the Anna that no one really saw except for the people close to her at this time. He spoke about her deep depression after Daniel’s death, how she was a “manipulator”, her moods, and her medications she was taking. Pills would be on a tray that she would take, that either she or Howard laid out for her. He also stated that Larry Birkhead gave Anna Nicole Smith “Ecstasy” one time when she was going to the World Music Awards. He also said that Anna was drinking Crystal at the same time.

Big Mo talked about boxes, Fed Ex size, that had medications in them that he would bring to her from California. Big Mo did say that Dr. Kapoor was never in the Bahamas, and Dr. Kapoor was grinning after he heard that statement.

Another issue was brought up in reference to Anna Nicole Smith and Dr. Khris’ relationship; Were they lovers? This idea was toyed with for quite a bit, and Dr. Khris’ face was contorting in such a way, and looked to me like she was trying hard not to say anything in her defense. Judge Perry said in reference to this allegation., “What does that have to do with it?” He wanted to drop the subject, but one Renee Rose said that another witness brought this up, and that this relationship may have made Anna more accessible to drugs, per se.

Another sad story told by Big Mo was that Anna was in Vegas another time and had gotten a 105 degree fever and flu like symptoms. Big Mo wanted to get Anna to the hospital but said that Dr. Khris, Alex (Dr. Khris’ friend), and Howard K Stern wanted to put Anna into a cold bath with ice, and the three of them did. Big Mo was saying that someone with an extreme temperature shouldn’t have such a sudden change in temp, it should be gradual. Big Mo said Anna refused to go to the hospital because she feared the paparazzi would be there when she arrived.

Big Mo actually got a little sentimental at one point and wiped his left eye, and said he sometimes felt he blamed himself for Anna’s demise.

Big Mo said that Howard K Stern had “suicidal thoughts” when Anna died.

Another subject was “Spoons”. Big Mo said because there was a spoon that was burnt on the bottom, and if you take Vitamin B12, there is no need to heat it up. Anna’s use of Chloral Hydrate was also in discussion. Plus, the fact that Anna at times was taking “Placebo’s”.

Steve Sadow, Stern’s lead attorney, must have had a hundred “I Object’s”, he was like a puppet that kept going up and down from his seat! At one point during the preliminary hearing, one reporter looked like they were taking a little nap, but woke up in a few minutes, LOL! Most of us here covering this hearing felt like we were intruding on something very private, I was sitting next to the ET reporter, Kevin Frazier, and the AP gold standard reporter, Linda Deutsch was sitting in front of me. I found that almost in unison we would turn to look at the clock I for one felt like we each wanted to be somewhere else and not prying into this very private world of Anna Nicole Smith.

Daniel DiCriscio being interviewed by media at Stern Preliminary Hearing

Unfortunately, I had to leave early; too much Apple Pie will make you throw up, get my drift? Although, I wish it was Apple Pie!

Anna Nicole took some of the most beautiful pictures during her days, but hearing all of this testimony left you with a picture that was not so pretty. So I left early with a tear and a heavy heart I just could not stay any longer.

©Daniel DiCriscio
October 15, 2009
Used with the permission of Daniel DiCriscio, the Messiah of Make Over
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 our featured author, Daniel DiCriscio, 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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