Jury selection nears conclusion in Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case in Calif

Jury selection nears end in Anna Nicole Smith case

LOS ANGELES — Lawyers neared an end to jury selection Tuesday in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial in Los Angeles.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry called a new panel of about 70 prospects early in the day, hoping to have a jury seated for opening statements on Wednesday.

Smith’s boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern and two of her doctors have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to provide her with massive amounts of opiates and sedatives. They are not charged in her overdose death in 2007.

Lawyers quizzed several of the prospective jurors about their attitudes about drugs, doctors and police officers.

One of the prospects says he learned about drugs from watching the TV show. “House.” The judge reminded him the main character, a drug-addicted doctor, is fictional.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jury selection will resume in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case after most prospective jurors were eliminated during the first round of questioning.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry ordered another group to report Tuesday after attorney challenges excluded all but a few of the first 60 perspective jurors to be questioned.

Among those removed Monday was a Scientologist who said he believed psychiatry was a fraud and a fan of Smith’s reality TV show who said the Playboy model’s boyfriend-lawyer, Howard K. Stern, did not do enough to save her from drugs.

Stern and two of her doctors have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to get massive amounts of opiates and sedatives for Smith, who died of an overdose in 2007.