Anna Nicole Smith’s boyfriend Howard K. Stern and two doctors were charged Thursday [03-12-09] with giving thousands of prescription drugs to the former Playboy Playmate in the years leading up to her fatal drug overdose in 2007.

Stern and doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich were each charged with three felony counts of conspiracy and several other charges of fraudulent prescriptions. Prosecutors said the doctors gave the drugs — including opiates and benzodiazepines — to Stern, who then gave them to Smith.

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown called Stern Smith’s “principal enabler” in a Friday [03-13-09] press conference, adding that “[Smith] took the drugs almost to the point of stupefication.”

The prescriptions were issued between June 2004 and January 2007, just two weeks before Smith’s death. The attorney general’s office has been pursuing its case since shortly after her death.

“It has taken so long because there have been hundreds of interviews, and tens of thousands of computer records that were looked at in California and abroad,” said Brown.

In an earlier statement, Brown stated that “these individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose.”

Brown’s spokesman, Scott Gerber, told The Associated Press that Stern and Kapoor surrendered Thursday night, and that Eroshevich will surrender Monday [03-16-09].

The medical examiner’s office has said Eroshevich, a Los Angeles psychiatrist and friend of the starlet’s, authorized all the prescription medications found in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel room where the 39-year-old Smith was found unresponsive shortly before her death in February 2007. Eroshevich had traveled with Smith to Florida.

The criminal complaint also alleges Kapoor wrote prescriptions for Smith under a patient alias Michelle Chase. Prosecutors allege the doctor gave her excessive amounts of sleep aids, opiates, muscle relaxants and methadone-like drugs used to treat addiction, knowing she was an addict.

The criminal complaint includes eight other felony charges, including obtaining fraudulent prescriptions and unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. In all, Stern faces six felonies and the doctors each are charged with seven. Prosecutors did not immediately know how many years in prison they faced if convicted.

Eleven prescription medications were found in Smith’s hotel room the day she died, according to the medical examiner’s office. More than 600 pills — including about 450 muscle relaxants — were missing from prescriptions that were no more than five weeks old when she died. Most of the drugs were prescribed in the name of Stern, her lawyer-turned-companion, and none was prescribed in Smith’s own name.

Ultimately, it was a syrup — the powerful sleeping aid chloral hydrate — blamed with tipping the balance in the toxic mix of drugs and causing her death.

Prosecutors recommended bail for the defendants at $20,000.

Heath Ledger’s frenzied reinvention of the Joker had fans and colleagues buzzing. His dreadful clown face was seen online by millions, and stood as the goosebump-raising image upon which nearly all early marketing of “The Dark Knight” hinged.

All this, while Ledger was still alive.

Now the Batman archfiend stands as Ledger’s next-to-last performance. And while it’s not the first, “The Dark Knight” has already emerged as arguably the biggest movie featuring a posthumous role in Hollywood history.

Major stars including James Dean, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy and Will Rogers had high-profile films released after they died. The deaths of others — notably Bruce Lee and his son Brandon — created an eerie allure that heightened interest in their final films.

Yet none had the magnitude of a comic-book franchise with an illustrious 70-year history, and movies in those eras did not arrive with the fanfare of today. Certainly none had the advance word of a delirious, demented turn by an actor completely reimagining of one of Hollywood’s greatest villains.

Work on Heath Ledger’s last film, suspended due to his death by accidental overdose in January, has resumed after three Hollywood stars agreed to play his character, director Terry Gilliam said on Monday.

Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law will step in to complete Ledger’s unfinished role in the movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” which is due for release next year.

“Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology,” said the film’s producers in a statement.

“Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.”

Gilliam said filming on the British-Canadian production had resumed in Vancouver “with the blessing and support of Heath Ledger’s family”.

Ledger had just finished shooting scenes for the movie in London before his death. Newspapers have reported that the story involves a magical mirror that takes people into different dimensions, allowing Gilliam to switch between actors.

“I am delighted that Heath’s brilliant performance can be shared with the world,” Gilliam said.

“We are looking forward to finishing the movie and, through the film, with a modicum of humility, being able to touch people’s hearts and souls as Heath was able to do.”

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is described as a modern-day fantasy adventure and has a budget estimated at $30 million.

Singer Amy Winehouse will not face charges in connection with an alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of justice involving her husband.

Police are taking no further action against the star, Scotland Yard said.

She was arrested “by appointment” in December and voluntarily attended a police station.

Soul singer Amy Winehouse will face no further action in connection with an alleged attempt to pervert the course of justice, British police said on Friday.The Grammy award-winning singer had been released on bail after being arrested by appointment last December and was due to return to a London police station in March pending further inquiries.

But police on Friday said the 24-year-old was no longer required.

A spokesman for Winehouse said she was “pleased to be discounted from the investigation and she thanks the police for their professionalism in their dealings with her”.

Her husband Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, is charged with trying to pervert the course of justice and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He pleaded not guilty to both charges at Snaresbrook Crown Court and was remanded in custody on Friday until April.

Winehouse did not attend the hearing.

She was absent because she was traveling to Paris to perform at a party for luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton.
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