LOS ANGELES (AP) - A jury deliberating in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial has sent a question to the court and ended its second day of talks without getting an answer.
Jurors asked Wednesday about the language in two charges against defendant Howard K. Stern and whether they must consider those charges separately against each of the three defendants.
A hearing was scheduled Thursday for attorneys to argue about how a judge should answer the query.
The six women and six men must decide whether Stern, and Drs. Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich provided excessive opiates and sedatives to the former Playboy model while knowing she was an addict.
Defense lawyers said Smith was not an addict and the medications were for pain.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A jury has ended its first day of deliberations in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case without reaching a verdict.
On Tuesday, the panel chose as its foreperson a woman with a doctorate in biology who promised during jury selection not to substitute her own medical expertise for that of witnesses.
Jurors must decide whether the three defendants provided excessive opiates and sedatives to the former Playboy model while knowing she was an addict. Defense lawyers said Smith was not an addict and the medications were for pain.
Drs. Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich and Smith’s boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern have pleaded not guilty to charges including prescribing under false names. They are not charged in Smith’s 2007 overdose death in Florida.
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