Felony case against Anna Nicole Smith confidante dismissed


              FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2011 file photo, Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's longtime companion speaks during an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif. A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, dismissed two  felony conspiracy convictions against Stern, ruling that continuing the case would be akin to harassment of the 46-year-old after a jury in 2010 rejected numerous other charges against him. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2011 file photo, Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's longtime companion speaks during an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif. A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, dismissed two felony conspiracy convictions against Stern, ruling that continuing the case would be akin to harassment of the 46-year-old after a jury in 2010 rejected numerous other charges against him. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge has dismissed conspiracy charges against Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend-lawyer, saying it was unfair to allow the case to go on any further.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry dismissed the case Wednesday after lawyers for Howard K. Stern argued evidence presented at trial didn't support his conviction on two conspiracy counts.

A jury in 2010 convicted Stern and one of Smith's doctors on two counts of conspiracy for using a false name and misrepresentation on prescriptions for a variety of medications the model took to manage pain before her death in 2007.

The 46-year-old had faced a maximum of three years in prison if he had been convicted in the case.

Smith, a Playboy model and reality TV star, died in Florida in 2007 of an accidental overdose.

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