Anna Nicole's son died of unnatural causes

[strandinthewind]

Hey, its early!!!!!!!

[irishgrl]

so ok, I can see why Anna shouldnt testify, that woman is a train wreck. But Howard is an attorney and one would think he could navigate the testimony gauntlet maybe thats the idea?

[strandinthewind]

Well, why not kill it all with one simply maneuver

Something happened in that room. We likely will never know what. But, people rarely just drop dead at that age. Moreover, drugs were in his system. I wonder if there is a test that can tell how recently he took the drug(s) -- that could be damning if HS were seen giving him a pill, etc.

Again, this is speculation - but if respectful, I see no prob. talking about it.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, why not kill it all with one simply maneuver

Something happened in that room. We likely will never know what. But, people rarely just drop dead at that age. Moreover, drugs were in his system. I wonder if there is a test that can tell how recently he took the drug(s) -- that could be damning if HS were seen giving him a pill, etc.

Again, this is speculation - but if respectful, I see no prob. talking about it.

I cant imagine Anna marrying Howard if he was the cause (direct or indirect) of Daniel's death....He's not a Svengali for heavens sake

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

I cant imagine Anna marrying Howard if he was the cause (direct or indirect) of Daniel's death....He's not a Svengali for heavens sake

Maybe she gave it to him?

[irishgrl]

maybe but it would then be odd for her to say to someone "YOU did this!"

[strandinthewind]

Maybe we will know one day - though it seems wrong somehow to me to know about this. Like I am intruding

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

They cannot be compelled to testify

Please explain

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Irt took me awhile, but I only did it for like two years --- I saw what the hard stuff did to people and it scared me back to that straight edge, though I LOVE a cockatil

I never tried hard drugs because I have an addictive personality and I believed the experts who said it took only one time to get hooked.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

Please explain

In a criminal case, a spouse cannot be compelled to testify against their spouse. So, if they are married, they cannot testify against each other. if they were the only ones other than D. in the room, then there is no direct evidence demonstrating culpability on them.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

In a criminal case, a spouse cannot be compelled to testify against their spouse. So, if they are married, they cannot testify against each other. if they were the only ones other than D. in the room, then there is no direct evidence demonstrating culpability on them.

Wow. Thank you. I guess that's for the U.S., Bahamas and everywhere?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

Wow. Thank you. I guess that's for the U.S., Bahamas and everywhere?

The spousal priviledge is pretty much universal in common law jurisdictions.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by desertangel

This wedding thing smacks of a similar situation as when Stevie married Kim Anderson shortly after Robin's death.

I thought of the same thing.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

They cannot be compelled to testify

Bingo.

[estranged4life]

By the Associated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith believes a pathologist's conclusion that her son died from an accidental lethal combination of drugs shows he didn't commit suicide and hopes that others will learn from the tragedy, a lawyer said Thursday.

An American examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said 20-year-old Daniel Smith had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, Wecht said.

"At least she knows the attacks on her son's reputation can be put to rest because it's clear he didn't intentionally take his life," said Wayne Munroe, a Bahamian attorney for the 38-year-old reality TV star and former Playboy Playmate.

Smith, who gave birth to a daughter three days before her son died at her bedside, is awaiting the conclusions of Wecht and the Bahamas pathologist who performed a separate official autopsy, Munroe said.

Wecht is waiting for test results on tissue samples before he completes his final report.

Smith wants others to learn from her son's death, Munroe told The Associated Press.

"She wants to see exactly what happened in a final report because she wants to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else's son," he said.

Daniel Smith, who reportedly was hospitalized for depression and back pain before he traveled to Nassau, had been prescribed the antidepressant Lexapro, Wecht said. He said he had not determined whether Smith had also been prescribed Zoloft, the other antidepressant found in his system.

The two drugs can be lethal when taken together or in sequence, according to Ann Blake Tracy, the Des Moines, Iowa-based director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness.

"The residue can stay there for some time, and if they're prescribed one after they've taken another, they can end up in trouble," she said.

Wecht said he did not know why Smith was taking methadone, a pain-reliever that is also used to ease heroin cravings for recovering addicts.

The combination of the three drugs, even in low doses, could easily have killed Smith, said Lisa Johnson, a pharmacist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

"The methadone will slow you down, but the other ones make your system speed up, so it's an odd combination," she said.

Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez said he has not received official toxicology results or a police report, which can determine whether a jury inquest is necessary. Wecht, a Pittsburgh-based forensic pathologist, plans to discuss his findings with Bahamas officials. Gomez said Wecht's toxicology results will not affect the Bahamian investigation.

Daniel Smith, who appeared several times on the E! reality series "The Anna Nicole Show," was the son of Anna Nicole and Bill Smith, who married in 1985 and divorced two years later.

Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year. She has since been involved in legal disputes over the estate.

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The above article was in this morning's newspaper.