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After bath video, weeks-long Anna Nicole Smith trial expected to end

By Alan Duke, CNN
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Anna Nicole appears drugged in video
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Defense lawyers says they will not call any witnesses
  • Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Friday
  • Video of Smith and her baby bathing was intended to show drug impairment
  • Judge has hinted he might drop some charges
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Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Friday in the seven-week-long trial of model Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend and two doctors.

They are expected to call their last witness Friday afternoon. And defense lawyers said they will likely not call any witnesses.

Smith's boyfriend Howard K. Stern and two doctors are on trial for allegedly conspiring to feed her drug addiction and using false names to obtain the drugs.

One expert witness for the defense, a pain medications expert, has already testified for the defense. Dr. Perry Fine testified early because of scheduling issues.

Jurors watched a video on Wednesday of the Playboy model singing, kissing and bathing with her infant daughter just two months before her February 2007 death.

"Momma didn't mean it, I'm sorry," Smith said when Dannielynn began crying as she washed her face.

Prosecutors showed the 13-minute video to support their argument that Smith's speech was slurred and her mind was groggy from drugs.

The defense does not deny Smith took a lot of drugs, but they contend Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor were treating her for chronic pain that other doctors had also diagnosed.

"If she's being treated for pain, it's not illegal," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said last week.

Judge Perry has suggested several times in recent weeks that the prosecution had fallen short in proving the core of its case, including that Smith was a drug addict.

The judge told the lawyers on Monday that he was considering dropping some of the charges before the case goes to the jury.

"I expect some charges will likely survive in some form," Perry said.

The three are charged with a conspiracy to provide drugs to a known addict and using false names on prescriptions for Smith.

They are not charged in her death, which a Florida medical examiner ruled was from an accidental overdose of a sleep aid, a lethal mix of prescription drugs and a viral flu.

While much of the past seven weeks have been tedious testimony about medical practices and drugs, the video shown in court Wednesday captured the jury's full attention.

Smith and her 2-month-old baby sat naked in a large tub in the Bahamas home where she spent most of her last months. The mother softly sang to her baby and kissed her repeatedly.

"Love the water," Smith said to her child.

Stern smiled several times as he watched the video from his seat at the defense table.

"Come on, Danny, do something good," jurors heard Stern say from behind the camera. "Show us you're a star."

In one moment, Smith and Stern seemed to joke about their rivalry for the baby's attention.

"Say 'Mommy,'" she told the baby. "Say 'Daddy,'" he said.

They repeated that exchange several times before Stern said "She made a funny face, she pointed to the camera."