Anna's son: OD was accident

2008-04-01 11:32

Nassau, Bahamas - A Bahamas jury ruled on Monday that the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son in September 2006 resulted from an accidental drug overdose and recommended no criminal charges.

The seven-member jury deliberated for less than two hours before delivering the unanimous verdict in the inquest into the death of 20-year-old Daniel Smith.

Magistrate William Campbell said the decision by the Coroner's Court jury ends the case as far the courts in this Atlantic archipelago are concerned.

Smith lost consciousness and died at his mother's bedside while visiting her in the Bahamas on September 10 2006.

The former Playboy playmate and reality TV star had given birth three days earlier to a girl, Dannielynn, in a Nassau hospital.

Police had said there was no evidence of homicide, and autopsies found that Daniel died from a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants.

But Bahamian authorities ordered the inquest amid widespread speculation over the circumstances surrounding his death.

In its ruling, the jury said the cause of death was "non-dependent use of drugs," meaning that Daniel Smith was not addicted and was not aware the drugs in his system would kill him.

Anna Nicole Smith died in Florida in February 2007 at age 39 from an accidental drug overdose.

Neil McCabe, an attorney for Anna Nicole's mother, Virgie Arthur, said she was disappointed in the ruling because she suspected foul play was involved.

Arthur has claimed previously that Anna Nicole's companion-attorney Howard K. Stern played a role in both deaths, but she did not provide evidence.

"We don't think it makes any sense," McCabe said. "The boy was not a drug user, the judge said so. Why would he all of a sudden take a massive dose of methadone?"

'Struggled with drugs and alcohol'

Stern, who has denied giving Daniel any drugs, said outside court that he was not sure whether the jury's decision would bring an end to the case.

"I have no control over them," he said of Arthur and her attorneys.

The inquest began in November and heard from more than two dozen witnesses

Anna Nicole's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, testified that Daniel was a troubled young man who struggled with drugs and alcohol.

But Stern said he was surprised at the autopsy report and said he had never seen Daniel using drugs.

Stern, who came to the Bahamas with Anna Nicole during her pregnancy in 2006, initially claimed he was the father of her infant daughter. He gave up custody last spring after DNA tests proved Birkhead is the father.

Dannielynn has been named the sole heir of her late mother's estate, with Birkhead and Stern as co-trustees.

Dannielynn could inherit millions of dollars if the estate wins an ongoing court fight over the oil fortune of Anna Nicole's late second husband, J Howard Marshall.

- AP