Well, what a ride, the preparation for the inevitable, the trial of Howard K. Stern, Dr. Khistine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor. It is August 4, 2010 and the “machine” is warming up! Howard K. Stern looked rested and quite frankly he looked great, the best I have seen in a long time ( I had seen him at his worst at times during my early days of assisting with his defense). Dr. Sandeep Kapoor looked stressed and agititated, it will not be fun having his personal journals read aloud to the jury and the audience. His journals are mean spirited most of the time and just darn nasty. The dark side perhaps, but a little “bitchy,” if you know what I mean. Yet when you speak to him he comes across as friendly and caring, what he must be thinking? The loss of a medical license after years of very hard work cannot be easy to be looking at. Dr. Eroshevich looked as if she had run a marathon, her hair was not coifed as it was on most days and she looked a little ragged. She looked terrible as a matter of fact. At her age, to be going through this has to be taking its toll, unlike Kapoor, she is in her twilight years. When you look at what she got herself into, I am not sure she will ever want to be a celebrity hanger-oner. She too is a very compassionate person and loads of fun at times to talk to. She is the most educated of the three and was good at what she did, and I do believe that she meant no harm. However, the doctors as they were presented to the jury by the prosecutor just seemed terrible. Go figure what were they thinking, why was not more effort placed in getting Anna to a re-hab center?
Over the years we have managed to get many celebs loaded into the car and hauled to Cedars or one of these money pit rehab centers. Betty Ford was one that I had spent many days and weeks at making sure all went as planned. Sure the treatment facility had a plan, then so did my client!
The defense got a huge break with the return of Judge Perry, during the pre-lim he did not seem to me to be happy that this case was coming down the criminal courts highway. When it was transferred to Judge Wesleys courtroom there was a great deal of concern as to how it would play out. The defense and defendants were concerned, Sadow however seemed to be a hit with both judges, it is that dam “Steve Factor.”
Ms. Vergie Arthur entered the courtroom at 8:35 A.M. She was nicely dressed and she too seemed comfortable and focused. She held the hand of a gentleman who I am assuming was her husband, she sat a few seats from were I was sitting. There were two others with her also and they all sat in the rear of the courtroom. Quiet and patient, she was there to watch and listen to those who are charged in preparing her daughter for the afterlife.
The jury entered the courtroom at 9:47 A.M. and it looked to be a good cross section of our society. This was there big “debut,” the group who would either “set ’em free or drop the court house on em.”. Them being the three stooges, it almost appears that they have been “stooged.” Why was this not done in Florida? The Bahamas? They are not like Moe, Larry and Curly…they come across as being sinister and conniving if you believe the prosecution…there is so much more!
Prosecutor Rene Rose was on top of her game and laid the foundation for some serious rock throwing and eye poking. She is good at her job and she is tough, I felt that her presentation and cadence was right on. Steve Sadow was nothing less than fabulous, this is what this guy was meant to do. He is interesting and good ol’ boyish in his delivery and had the jurys attention. So much that Prosecutor Rose objected a few times only to have Judge Perry to throw a chill on her.
Much was made of the names that were used in the course of making sure Anna stayed medicated. The name that just kept coming was “Michele Chase,” over and over again this alias was used. Hmmm I am reviewing my notes, but I recall that this was a name used by a male who would sometimes “cross dress,” and was associated with Anna Nicole Smith & Co. For many years I would visit the Queen Mary in Studio City, California, it was owned by one of my very good friends Robert Juleff. This place was a show place with live shows of female impersonators and in the very back was a very special bar. Robert would tell me that on a busy night you could go back there and find lawyers and perhaps a judge or two, depending on what night of the week. There were some pretty strange looking folks back there. There were also some rather attractive ones but you had to keep in mind that many had extra equipment, I always had a ball when I visited the place! Michele Chase will live on forever in the Anna Nicole Smith story.
Here is my prediction, Howard K. Stern will walk, he has a great lawyer, Steve Sadow is going to have this jury eating out of his hand. Dr. Kapoor I am not sure, on paper he looks just terrible, but he too has one of the best lawyers out there, Ellyn Garafalo, she is different and has a very no nonsense attitude. For Dr. Eroshevich who is on lawyer 3 or 4, she has lots of hurdles to get over and at her age it won’t be easy getting over them. Not sure how much the prosecution will get into in all of her baggage, but most is not good. And she has more baggage than a Pullman Coach. And in saying that, she is the only one who never made a dime on her relationship with ANS, it cost her money to hang around and be a “doctor!” And in the end, it may cost her her entire career (deals are good, too bad, we hope you enjoy the view).
We will be reporting in and out on this trial as time will allow and we at DesperateExes.com wish all three of these people the best of luck…..and for those who will testify against Howard K. Stern, wear a vest and a safety belt as Sadow is going to ?rock your world”…and “Michele,” where is my lipstick?