Anna Nicole Smith

We really wish we were making this up.

But an opera based on the life, and premature death, of Anna Nicole Smith has opened in London. Titled "Anna Nicole," it premiered at the Royal Opera House last night and features Eva-Maria Westbroek in the lead role.

Anna Nicole Smith Opera

The New York Times actually referred to the performance as "deeply moving," while Mark Swed of The Los Angeles Times called it "a tawdry, if entertaining, opera... it was not until a beguiling orchestral interlude in the second act, and too late, that 'Anna' finally seemed worth taking seriously."

Talk about a surprising critique. The only thing we take seriously out of the sad Anna Nicole Smith drama is how much of a douche Larry Birkhead is.

Howard K. Stern says he and the late Anna Nicole Smith have both been vindicated by the judge's ruling to throw out Stern's conviction last week.

Stern told GMA today that "it was incredible" when he was let off the hook, denying that he ever defrauded anyone or conspired in any way.

"The prosecution's false portrayal was exposed," and "a vision of Smith" crossed his mind during the judge's ruling, he said. "In my mind, I was talking to her."

Stern said that he's no enabler, and that Smith took meds not to get high, but just "to live her daily life." Here's his first press conference after the ruling ...

Howard K. Stern Press Conference

Howard K. Stern was expected to be formally sentenced in court today after being convicted by a jury of his peers last year on charges of conspiracy.

Instead, in a shocking turn of events, the judge threw out the case.

Despite a conviction on charges related to Anna Nicole Smith's death - prosecutors argued, and a jury concurred, that he conspired to fuel the late model's drug habit - Stern's conviction was baseless in the mind of the judge, who tossed it.

FREE MAN: Howard K. Stern was (somehow) vindicated today.

This marked a repudiation of sorts for newly-inaugurated California Gov. Jerry Brown, who spent millions as Attorney General going after Stern in the case.

Judge Robert Perry found that Stern never had criminal intentions when he used his name and others to protect Smith's privacy in obtaining prescriptions.

Perry also found that Dr. Khristine Eroshevich was acting out of concern for Smith in doing the same and commuted her sentence to a year of probation.

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Howard K. Stern has been found guilty of contributing to the death of Anna Nicole Smith, his former client, confidant and longtime cash cow.

A Los Angeles Superior Court convicted Smith's ex-lover on two counts of conspiracy today - giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions - determining that he helped fuel the late starlet's fatal drug habit.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich was also convicted of four charges; while another physician who treated her, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, was cleared on all counts.

Looks like Howard K. Stern is off to prison.

Sentencing for both parties is scheduled for January 6, but D.A. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said outside of court this afternoon that "both defendants are looking at possible maximum of at least three years in state prison."

The D.A's office still has the opportunity to reduce or limit sentencing to some of the misdemeanor charges. Whether that happens is another story.

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It's been 11 days of deliberations and still the jury in the Anna Nicole Smith case has not returned with a verdict. Soon, the judge may declare a mistrial.

In the event that happens, the defendants are not off the hook as if they were found not guilty, but it's up to the D.A. as to whether to try the case again.

The jury sent questions to the judge Wednesday that indicated they are unable to agree on some of charges against Howard K. Stern and two doctors.

Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007).

"What should we do if we are unable to come to a verdict on a count or an object crime?" the jury asked in a written question to the presiding judge.

"If you can't reach a verdict, then you can't reach a verdict," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry responded to the conflicted jury.

Judge Perry encouraged jurors to ask more questions or request a "read back" of testimony before he officially declares the jury hung on a verdict.

The case against Smith's boyfriend-lawyer Stern and two doctors, Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich is complicated, to say the very least.

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Before there was Dr. Conrad Murray, there was Howard K. Stern.

Anna Nicole Smith's attorney and former boyfriend, the subject of a felony drug conspiracy trial stemming from ANS' death, is accused of enabling her demise.

The prosecutors have been accused of overcharging him, however, and yesterday, a judge tossed out charges against Stern for obtaining drugs by fraud and deceit.

The judge also dismissed part of a conspiracy count against Stern and one of the two physicians on trial, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, saying there is no proof of conspiring.

Judge Perry allowed the rest of the conspiracy charge to stand and said the majority of the 11-count complaint against the two men can go to a jury for a decision.

Perry says that he's presided over 622 jury trials, but only three times was he faced with "overzealous" prosecutors who "appeared to put winning above" fairness.

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One of the shady doctors charged in the Anna Nicole Smith drug case claims prosecutors have no evidence he conspired to pump her full of drugs.

As a result of this "misunderstanding," Dr. Sandeep Kapoor wants the judge to throw out some charges he faces in the late model's 2007 death.

Kapoor's lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo, filed legal papers asking the judge to reject the prosecution's claim that Kapoor teamed up with Howard K. Stern.

The accusation: Kapoor, Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich made a conscious effort to fuel Anna Nicole Smith with drugs that ultimately killed her.

As usual, it's a very fine line and difficult to prove.

IN SANDEEP $H!T: Dr. Kapoor allegedly broke many laws.

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor claims he prescribed drugs for Anna before he met Eroshevich, even refusing to fill a prescription list Eroshevich faxed him.

Kapoor also challenges authorities' allegations of his obtaining Anna's 'scripts by "fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation," according to the filing.

In the court papers, Kapoor acknowledges filling a prescription for Anna under a pseudonym, but he claims he only did so to protect her privacy.

Not, as prosecutors say, to "divert drugs for illegal sale or use." Of course, the long list of felonies he's charged with is unlikely to be fully tossed.

Three years have passed since Smith's death, and more may follow before this case - making the Dr. Conrad Murray case seem simple - is resolved.

We've talked about the O.J. factor and how it's making investigators in the Michael Jackson case act with such extreme patience and caution at every turn.

Basically, there's no rush, and they don't want to let another winnable, high-profile case go by the wayside because they got sloppy like with the Juice.

But there's another reason the case is dragging on for months - Anna Nicole Smith. Her ex-beau Howard K. Stern will likely go to trial on multiple drug-related felony charges stemming from the model's addiction woes and death.

Because the case is similarly compliex, prosecutors are probably watching that case to determine the specific charges Dr. Conrad Murray should face.

Murray, who has been blamed by the Jackson family for MJ's death, has maintained his innocence throughout the process and has returned to work.

How Dr. Conrad Murray is charged may hinge on the Anna Nicole Smith case.

While some Jacksons have called him a murderer, it's clear there was no premeditated killing of Michael, and how to prosecute him is a murky task.

"It's not like prosecutors think there's a propofol murderer out there," says Robin Sax, former Los Angeles prosecutor, saying he's not a flight risk.

Yet another factor slowing things down: the feds.

"At the very least," retired Drug Enforcement Administration supervisory special agent Gregory D. Lee says, "Murray runs the risk of losing his license."

That seems like a given, but like the LAPD, the DEA is still determining what, if any, more serious federal drug charges will be filed against the doc.

A nanny who once worked for Anna Nicole Smith claimed she saw Howard K. Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich force drugs on the late Playboy model.

This according to an investigator testifying in courtyesterday.

The Department of Justice's Danny Santiago testified that Nadine Alexie claimed she saw Smith's companion (Stern) and former shrink (Eroshevich) give Smith drugs against her will that kept her asleep for days.

Santiago said he got the information from Alexie in September.

The nanny, according to Santiago, also claimed that Smith would wake up covered in vomit and feces in her bed. Absolutely tragic, terrible stuff.

Anna Nicole Smith (1968-2007).

The testimony was part of a preliminary hearing to determine if Stern, Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor will be tried for Smith's death.

We suspect they will be. Last week, a pharmacist testified that Eroshevich prescribing lethal doses of drugs to Smith and he wouldn't comply.

The trio of defendants face more than a dozen felony counts of allegedly supplying Smith with drugs illegally, and for aiding a drug addict.

All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.

A California pharmacist testified that he refused to fill a prescription for Anna Nicole Smith written by Smith's psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, in 2006.

Why wouldn't he do so? Because the high doses of medication the doc wanted to give Smith amounted to "pharmaceutical suicide." That's a fairly good reason.

Ira Freeman said he received a request for painkillers, muscle relaxants and sedatives on September 15, 2006, four days after Smith's son Daniel passed away.

According to the Los Angeles Times, he declined to fill it: "If she got ahold of these medications, it could have fatal consequences," he told a judge Thursday.

Anna Nicole Smith died five months later of a drug overdose. Reports of her final days are not pretty, and those responsible could pay dearly with jail time.

Is Dr. Khristine Eroshevich responsible for Anna Nicole's death?

The testimony took place during a preliminary hearing to determine whether Eroshevich, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, should be tried on felony charges of conspiring to aid the drug addict Smith.

The three face 23 felony counts of doing so through fraudulent means.

Freeman said Eroshevich's prescription for the Playboy model called for a staggering eight times the recommended dosage of a hypnotic sedative called Dalmane.

He also said Eroshevich seemed unfamiliar with the meds she was ordering. He recounted a toxicologist saying Eroshevich "was way out of her league on this."

An autopsy revealed Smith's death was caused by a combination of toxic drugs, especially chloral hydrate, Benadryl, clonazepam, diazepam and lorazepam.

Earlier this week, another psychiatrist testified that Smith tried to quit prescription drugs in 2006, when pregnant with her daughter, but failed to do so.

Luckily, Dannielynn is healthy and happy, living with dad Larry Birkhead.