Howard K. Stern Has a "Clear Conscience"

After more than two weeks of deliberations a jury in Los Angeles has found Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriend, along with her psychiatrist, guilty of conspiracy. The two defendants were convicted on six counts altogether for obtaining drugs taken by the Playboy model in the last three years of her life.

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reported Howard K. Stern was Anna Nicole Smith's closest friend, lawyer and former lover. Now he's been convicted of two felony counts of conspiracy, for using fake names and false prescriptions to supply Smith with massive doses of drugs.

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Stern said outside court, "Now this was done to protect Anna Nicole's privacy, and it was nothing more than that."

Smith's psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich was found guilty on four counts including conspiracy and fraud. But overall, the jury dismissed or deadlocked on 15 other felony counts.

Eroshevich said following the decision, "I loved Anna Nicole...She had a lot of problems. ...She was a good person, a good friend."

In the three years before her death, Tracy pointed out Smith was often seen on Stern's arm -- often incoherent.

Prosecutors say Smith obtained 1,500 pills in just one month. After her death in February of 2007, methadone was found in her refrigerator, and an autopsy revealed a dozen drugs in her system, including painkillers and sedatives.

Yet in a bizarre twist, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, the physician who prescribed many of those drugs, was cleared of all charges.

Kapoor said, "It truly is a victory for not only patients, but also physicians who treat difficult chronic pain."

CBS News Legal Analyst Trent Copeland said, "The jury really took the blame and placed it right back on Anna Nicole's shoulders."

Stern, speaking of Smith, said, "She'd think this was ridiculous."

Stern and Eroshevich now face up to three years behind bars.

But despite conviction on two felony counts, Steve Sadow, Howard K. Stern's attorney, said on "The Early Show" Stern has been vindicated.

Sadow said, "He's been vindicated across the board as to whether he furnished or gave drugs to Anna Nicole Smith in an illegal or unlawful fashion. The only convictions had to do with using his own name on prescriptions that were for her and that was always admitted and acknowledged as being for her privacy and confidentiality."

"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez noted, "He has acknowledged, as he did all along, as you say, he used his own name to get prescription medicine for her. Howard K. Stern is an intelligent person, an attorney, how could he not know that's illegal?"

Sadow responded, "Well, principally, because in the ... Los Angeles area, celebrities have been using aliases and anonymous names for years and years. Anna used it in many occasions, many hospitals used it for her, doctors used it for her and in Howard's mind, as long as the prescribing doctor and Anna knew the medication was for her, there was nothing wrong with it."

Sadow said Stern "definitely has a clear conscience."

"He loved and cherished Anna," Sadow said. "She was the love of his life. He regrets the fact that her untimely demise was such a tragedy for one and all. That death was ruled an accident. It wasn't the subject matter of this particular lawsuit. And he'd like to, of course, have her back. But, no, I don't think that there's anything in his mind he believes that he should or could have done differently."

Sadow told Rodriguez at Stern's hearing in January, they'll be looking to reduce the charges from felonies to misdemeanors.

He explained, "All along, the judge has indicated some concern with what we call the false name aspect of the case. And we are hopeful that the judge will now reconsider in light of the jury's verdict, whether or not there was sufficient evidence that Howard knew it was illegal to use his own name on prescriptions for Anna Nicole. If he agrees with us on that, both the conspiracy charges will be dismissed and Howard will be determined not guilty by the court. If not, we'll move on to punishment. And under the circumstances, the judge has the power to sentence Howard as a misdemeanor offender and not a felon. We are hopeful and expecting that the judge will be willing to do that under all these circumstances and that Howard will not go to jail for any reason."