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Witness: Nanny says drugs provided by defendants
2009-10-29
LOS ANGELES - A nanny who worked for Anna Nicole Smith told an investigator the Playboy model's boyfriend and psychiatrist persuaded her to take drugs that left her sleeping for as long as three days, the investigator testified Thursday. Department of Justice investigator Danny Santiago read portions of his interview with nanny Nadine Alexie during a preliminary hearing. The excerpts had been selected from a thick transcript by Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry, who said he had tried to excise the more inflammatory sections of the multi-hour interview on Sept. 29-30 in the Bahamas. Still, Santiago conveyed a graphic story in which the nanny claimed Smith was provided drugs by her boyfriend Howard K. Stern and her psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, even when Smith said she didn't want them. The nanny was first asked if Smith was taking too many medications. "Yes, she was," Alexie answered, according to the transcript. "Whenever she finished taking these things they gave to her, she would be knocked out for a couple of days." Alexie said Smith sometimes resisted taking the medications, but Stern was convincing and would change her mind. Alexie said Stern would say, "You have to take your medicine or you'll start crying and you'll feel bad." Eroshevich, Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor are charged with conspiring to illegally provide controlled substances to Smith, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2007. The allegations include giving drugs to an addict. All three have pleaded not guilty. They are not charged in her death. The ongoing hearing will determine whether the defendants will stand trial. Judge Perry said he would take home and watch a 45-minute videotape that prosecutors said shows Smith under the influence of drugs given to her by Stern. Perry intends to rule Friday on whether the video will be admitted as evidence. "I think this is very relevant evidence to the criminality of Mr. Stern," prosecutor Renee Rose said. Sterns attorney Steve Sadow objected, saying the tape was stolen from Smith's home and might have been edited. Perry said he would review the video at home so the hearing wouldn't get bogged down. Earlier, Santiago said he asked the nanny if she heard Smith tell Stern to leave her life. Alexie said yes, but Stern remained a constant presence at her Bahamas home, persuading her to take medication. "All he had to do was sit down and talk to her and tell her how important it was she take it," Alexie said in the transcript. When Stern took Smith to the bathroom to take her medicine, Alexie said, she noted a marked difference in Smith's behavior when she came out. "He would tell her it's time to take your medicine then take her to the bathroom or bedroom. Anna would go to the bathroom like Anna, smiling and happy, and would come back falling down," Alexie said in the transcript. Alexie told the investigator that she found used hypodermic needles in the bathroom. The nanny said Smith would not eat or go to the bathroom during the long sleeping jags then would wake up with feces and vomit in her bed. The only time Smith was allowed to remain undrugged was when she was doing TV interviews at her home, Alexie said. Eroshevich, whom Smith referred to as "mom," would bring drugs with her from California. according to the nanny. Alexie said she tried to talk to Eroshevich about the medications and was told Smith was sick and in pain. The nanny provided a list of at least a dozen medications she found in the home. Sadow tried to quiz the investigator about other statements made by Alexie and another nanny who worked for Smith. He said the nannies had refused to be interviewed by the defense and suggested they had changed their stories since Smith's death. Alexie said she worked for Smith from Sept. 17 to Dec. 14, 2006, when Stern fired her because "too much information was leaking out."
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