Judge reduces charges against Anna Nicole`s ex beau

New York: The judge in late model Anna Nicole Smith`s drug conspiracy trial has reduced the charges against her former boyfriend Howard K Stern.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry, who earlier this week accused prosecutors of excessively, charging the case because a celebrity death was involved, Wednesday discarded two charges against Stern of obtaining drugs by fraud and deceit. The judge also dismissed part of a conspiracy count against Stern and Sandeep Kapoor, one of the two physicians on trial, saying there wasn`t enough proof that the men conspired to obtain controlled drugs through fraud and deceit. Judge Perry allowed the rest of the conspiracy charge to stand and said the majority of the 11-count complaint can go to the jury for a decision. The case returns to court Monday for closing arguments in the trial of Stern, Kapoor and Smith`s psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, who prescribed many of the drugs found in Smith`s body after her death in 2007 at age 39. IANS