A Bahamian magistrate ruled yesterday that “homicide” would not be an option for the jury handling the Daniel Smith case. Now that murder was ruled out, the jury must chose between four other options for cause of death.
In a Bahamian court today, the parties discussed four possible options as the cause of death — accident, “misadventure,” non-dependent drug use and an “open verdict.”
We’re told the magistrate will instruct the jury on those options on March 31.
No one, including Virgie Arthur’s lawyer, suggested that homicide was an option.
As for the options, “misadventure” is defined as “a hazardous course of action which ended fatally.” An open verdict means the jury can’t decide the specific cause of death.
Daniel passed away at the age of 20 in September 2006 from an accidental overdose of Methadone and the anti-depressants Zoloft and Lexapro. His mother, Anna Nicole Smith, accidentally overdosed five months later.
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March 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I’m ashamed to admit that I bought the book Train Wreck that her sister wrote. It was horrible but even her money hungry, publicity hound sister didn’t think murder was involved. (well, not really, she did say something about Howard K. Stern being “involved” but never said she thought it was murder).
March 26th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Even if no one is legally culpable for his death, there is plenty of blame to go around. There’s no question in my mind that the people Anna surrounded herself with were greedy, vile SOBs who contributed to the whole sordid mess and, by extention, Daniel’s death.