Investigation Discovery will air its “True Crime with Aphrodite Jones”, “The Death of Anna Nicole Smith” tonight at 10:00 pm est.

The online promotions list  three “confidants” of Anna Nicole Smith who will appear on the show. One is Ray Martino, a D-list movie producer and the man who Anna Nicole left her son Daniel with when she fled the U.S. to live in the Bahamas. The second is Gerlene Gibson who was Dannielynn Birkhead‘s nanny in the Bahamas for a short time.  And we can’t forget Larry Birkhead, the baby daddy who is shown emoting in preview clips as he reminisces about his turbulent relationship with the late model and actress.

However one guest has not been mentioned online and that will be retired FBI Houston, Texas Bureau Chief, Mr. Don Clark.

Mr. Clark worked for the late billionaire attorney John O’Quinn as an Investigative Strategist and Jury Consultant after his service to the FBI. O’Quinn along with his senior counsel and personal adviser, Texas attorney Neil McCabe, represented Anna Nicole’s mother Virgie Arthur in various legal actions. The first being in February 2007 when Mrs. Arthur attempted to claim her unmarried deceased daughter’s body.

All in all, the show promises to be very interesting as the three mentioned guests are friendly with Anna Nicole’s attorney Howard K. Stern.

Mr. Clark, is in opposition of the three guests and in support of Mrs. Arthur who believes her daughter and grandson were victims of foul play. She also predicted her own daughters death as she tried to warn her after grandson Daniel  Smith, who was not a drug addict, died from pills that he did not enter the Bahamas with in his possession.

Mrs Arthur reaching out via the airwaves to her daughter Anna Nicole Smith, October 12, 2006 on the Nancy Grace Show:

Vickie Lynn, you know I love you, always have. Be very careful about who you hang around with, because you may be next.

And indeed she was…

Jury Selection

From links offered to the site (and I thank you guys very much) it looks like we have yet another mystery on our hands. One link says 60 jurors were processed today and it appears that a whole new batch will be seen tomorrow. Another says 52. Out of those 52 to 60 all writers agree that not many were selected to serve today although they don’t offer a number.

Jury selection is a big business in the world of law. Of course that’s how former FBI bureau chief Don Clark came to work for late billionaire attorney John O’Quinn. He was a jury consultant. O’Quinn was Virgie Arthur’s attorney until Stern sued O’Quinn for defamation in Florida. Attorney Neil McCabe now takes care of Mrs. Arthur.

California law says that the judge will first eliminate all persons who it appears would face undue hardship if they had to serve on the jury. For whoever is left, the judge conducts the initial examination and then the lawyers get their turn. This part of the process is called “voir dire”. The attorneys receive a limited amount of time that they can question candidates. Complex cases can take over one half hour for both the prosecution and the defense.

When that part is over, the parties are allowed to request that a juror be excused for “cause”. For-cause challenges are done with jurors who are sitting in the jury box. For-cause challenges are distinguished from peremptory challenges because “for-cause” means there has to be a specific reason for the juror to be excused. For peremptory challenges, no reason has to be stated but both sides are limited to 10 of those challenges for the purposes of this particular case.

To read more in depth about how the process works, check out, this page.

Well, it’s been awhile and I’m behind. I hope no one cares if I get myself caught up out loud here.

When I left, I believe it was toward the end of May. In Virgie Arthur vs Howard K. Stern et al, in Houston Texas 280th District Court, one of the defendants Lyndal Harrington ending up being sent to jail for not complying with the courts order to turn over her computer. Harrington claimed that her home was burglarized and her computer was stolen. The policeman who took the report testified he believed the robbery was staged. Presiding Honorable Judge Tony Lindsay apparently did not believe Ms. Harrington’s story either and ordered Harrington to jail for contempt.

Judge Lindsay released Harrington after spending four days incarcerated and in a subsequent hearing, Harrington agreed to give access to her email accounts to the appointed Special Master Forensic Expert Craig Ball. He would then make a privilege log for Harrington to examine before anything is submitted, as I understand things.  I also believe that Harrington is still expected to produce her computer and case followers wonder why Harrington did not make the effort before to produce her email accounts.

In California, Los Angeles Superior court, case #BC397417, there is Howard K. Stern vs Mark Speer and Jackie Hatten. Although I have not seen the paperwork, it appears that Stern has dropped his case against Speer who was providing body guard services for Larry Birkhead. I remember being shocked when Stern filed this suit as sources said Mr. Speer was to give a deposition in Stern’s defamation case against Rita Cosby and her publisher possibly the next day.  Two words would cover my personal opinion on this. Witness intimidation?  It appears the part of the case against former friend of Anna Nicole Smith, Jackie Hatten is still active.

In another interrelated California case, Howard K. Stern’s sister Bonnie Stern filed bankruptcy just prior to the deadline in which she was supposed to turn her computer over to the Special Master in the late Anna Nicole Smith’s mother, Mrs. Virgie Arthur’s defamation, libel and conspiracy to defame case. The defendants in that case are Howard K. Stern, journalist Art Harris, TMZ and its managing editor Harvey Levin,  Larry Birkhead, Sterns sister Bonnie and two bloggers Lyndal Harrington, Teresa Stephens and a blog owner Nelda Turner of rosepeaks.com.

The bankruptcy stayed the case until Neil McCabe, attorney for Mrs. Arthur got the stay lifted so the case could at least proceed against the other defendants. Ms. Stern’s bankruptcy was finally discharged and the case continued against her with the main issue being Ms. Stern’s refusal to turn over her computer and electronic media to the Special Master. Later on, when Ms. Harrington was sent to jail, somehow Ms. Stern got the notion that there was an arrest warrant out for her so she made arrangements to ship her computers to Mr. Ball. She like others was told not to tamper with her computer but she did not comply.  Forensic Expert Mr. Ball to whom she finally sent her computers to because she thought she was going to be arrested examined her media and using very strong language said that deliberate deleting of material had taken place. Judge Lindsay agreed and granted Mr. McCabe’s request for a default judgment against Bonnie Stern as to liability which will be decided after the trial which is scheduled for the summer of 2010.

While Mr. McCabe was in California taking care of business concerning Bonnie Stern’s bankruptcy, he was in the neighborhood to see Howard K. Stern, Dr’s Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich’s arraignment on felony drug charges in connection with the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

It was also reported that Mr. McCabe and Don Clark were in the neighborhood to hear oral arguments for summary judgment for Cosby in Howard K. Stern vs Rita Cosby and Hatchette Books in New York. Only one rag mag covered the hearing and it was the New York Post. If you will remember their scurrilous article, “Now That’s Not Nice Granny”, they took a quote from Lin Wood who is the attorney for Howard K. Stern in the Cosby case. Apparently the writer took something out of context that Judge Chin, who was presiding on this case said, with Stern’s attorney Wood embellishing upon it.  The line from The Post said, “One point that I find troubling is that Anna Nicole Smith would entertain herself by watching this videotape, said Chin.”

A more accurate depiction I am told, would be Judge Denny Chin was confounded as to why a woman would want to repeatedly watch two people she supposedly had been intimate with “getting it on”.

As people who follow these inter-related Anna Nicole Smith cases know, there has been some pretty creative lawyering on both sides of the fence. One of them was when Attorney Lin Wood for Howard K. Stern was filing a sworn statement he elicited from Nelda Turner a defendant in the Texas State case with almost all the courts where Stern had cases. Well oops, apparently Wood did not keep up with the facts in what is called the “blogger case” because he ended up withdrawing what he filed.

I have not been following Stern’s case against Ford Shelley and G. Ben Thompson closely but did have an opportunity to read some of the latest and will reserve my thoughts for when more information is available because it appears to me that the two men may be doing some back peddling. When only snippets are presented in the legal documents, it’s hard to see what is really going on.  I do know this though. Thompson and Shelley have apparently turned over what they had which belongs to the estate of Anna Nicole Smith. I suppose the question now will be if the estate been damaged or not. Again, case followers have seen items that are purported to have belonged to Anna Nicole Smith for sale on Ebay with the seller being out of California, not South Carolina where Shelley and Thompson reside. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Finally, in the Harris County “blogger case”, Arthur vs Stern et al, another defendant is trying to circumvent the system and not obey a court order and this is even after Harrington did jail time and Bonnie Stern had a default judgment declared against her in the same case.

Teresa Stephens was ordered in early May of this year to turn over her “electronic media” aka computer, any exterior drives etc…  and it still has not happened. She informed the court that she would be present at a hearing that she scheduled on July 17th along with other motions in the same case that were to be heard that day. According to published reports, Judge Lindsay was ready to issue a warrant when Stephens did not show up but Mrs. Arthur’s attorney said he was informed that Stephens had filed an appeal that may have stayed any proceedings against her so he opted to give Stephens a break to “wait and see”. However, when Mr. McCabe contacted the clerk for the appellate court, he was informed they have received no such document.

McCabe filed a motion denying statements Stephens had made to the court and requested a Capias order. An order for the arrest of Theresa Stephens has now been issued with Arthur being charged a $3000 bond for the cost of bringing Ms. Stephens from where she lives around Dallas Texas to Houston.

Also in Harris County, there was a July 31st hearing scheduled for Larry Birkhead’s Special Appearance but that will be rescheduled for a later time.

While I have been offline, I was sad to see the news about the death of Michael Jackson. I grew up with his music and along with my children thought he was an exceptional entertainer. Another troubling aspect of his death is the similarity to what happened to Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel. In fact, the last person to see Michael alive was a Houston Texas doctor and as more facts come to light, I’m hearing the term, “death by entourage” used over and over again. It has been interesting and gratifying to see the state of California and other agencies aggressively pursuing this tragic case. It will be interesting to see how this case affects the felony drug charges brought against Howard K. Stern and Dr’s Kapoor and Eroshevich.

Also notable is the fact that Mrs. Virgie Arthur was declared next of kin in the California criminal case due to Proposition 9 which is also called Marsey’s Law. I’ll save writing about that for another day.

Latest documents filed in the 280th Harris County District Court of Houston Texas, defamation complaint of  Virgie Arthur vs Howard K. Stern and  Journalist Art Harris, Bonnie Stern,  TMZ.com, Harvey Levin, Larry Birkhead and bloggers Lyndal Harrington, Teresa Stephens and Nelda Rose Turner.

Also Neil McCabe, Arthur’s attorney filed a response with the Florida court in Howard K. Stern vs John O’Quinn stating they are not opposed to releasing the full confidential depositon of Don Clark to the California Department of Justice who arrested  Howard K. Stern on felony drug charges.

1) Plaintiffs motion to cancel deposition of Neil McCabe

040109_Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Motion_cancel_McCabe_depo.pdf

2) Plaintiffs motion to cancel deposition of Nelda Turner

040109_Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Motion_cancel_Turner_depo.pdf

3) Plaintiff’s supplemental statement opposing defendant Howard K. Stern’s verified motion to recuse the Honorable Tony Lindsay

040109_Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Plaintiffs_supplement_opposition_to_recusal.pdf

4) Plaintiff’s response to defendant Nelda Turner’s motion to quash deposition notice and motion for protective order.

040109_Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Plantiffs_response_Turners_quash_motion.pdf

5) Defendant Teresa Stephens letter in support of recusal of Judge Lindsay

040109_Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Stephens_letter_recusal.pdf

6) O’Quinns response to Howard K. Stern’s motion for the California Department of Justice to be designated as a qualified recipient of the confidential portions of the deposition of Don Clark. O’Quinn says he has no problem with Stern’s request.

Stern_vs_OQuinn_040209_267.pdf

Exhibits For Plaintiff’s Supplemental Statement Opposing Defendant Howard K. Stern’s Verified Motion to Recuse the Honorable Tony Lindsay

Exhibit A

Exhibit B 156 pages of emails

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Exhibit F

Exhibit G

Exhibit H

*******

And to put the documents in perspective, here are the original filings to which the above Harris County documents are in answer to.

A) Howard K. Stern’s motion to recuse Judge Lindsay

Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Houston_Motion_to_recuse.pdf

B) Virgie Arthur’s statement opposing Stern’s motion to recuse and attachments.

Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Plantiff_Statement_Opposing_Recuse_Motion.pdf

Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Exhibits_G-N_Opposition_to_Recusal.pdf

C) Defendant Nelda Turner’s motion to quash deposition notice and motion for protective order can be found here labeled as “Nelda’s Motion to Quash Subpoena”

UPDATE 04/04/09

Virgie Arthur’s response to defendant Nelda Turner’s motion to quash deposition notice and motion for protective order.

Arthur_vs_Stern_etal_Arthur_Sup_Response_Turner_Motion_to_Quash.pdf

Lin Wood resquests emails between Judge Lindsay and Judge Wise and Judge Lindsay and any court employee concerning Arthur vs Stern et al.    http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/eDoc

Tomorrow, March 20th 2009, there are a few things happening in the ongoing lawsuits that Howard K. Stern is involved in.

In Los Angeles, where I can not get documents from by the way, there is a hearing in Howard K. Stern vs Mark Speer. Speer was a body guard who helped  Larry Birkhead, father of Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter Dannielynn, with security. Stern is accusing Speer of libeling him by statements that appeared in Rita Cosby’s book Blond Ambition. Stern is suing Cosby for the book as well.

Attorneys for Stern filed the lawsuit against Speer and Jackie Hatten who was a friend of Anna Nicole Smith’s, the night before Speer was to give a deposition in  Stern vs Rita Cosby.

I believe the hearing tomorrow concerns Speer asking for the case to be dismissed under Anti-Slapp laws.

Speer is employed by a private military and protective security company Jax Desmond Worldwide. They released a statement after Howard K. Stern was arrested for felony drug charges related to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Jax Desmond is offering physical protection at “cost” to anyone associated to cases involving Stern. Services will be decided on a case by case basis.

***

Also tomorrow, in Houston Texas, the State lawsuit of Arthur vs Stern et al has a hearing scheduled. Although Neil McCabe, attorney for Virgie Arthur filed a motion to cancel the hearing due to a bankruptcy filing by one of the defendants and attorneys for another defendant, Art Harris filed a motion for continuance, neither motion was addressed by the court. According to a clerk in the 280th district court in Harris County, the hearing will go forward.

Another defendant, Bonnie Stern the one who filed bankruptcy is not required to appear because of that filing but attorneys for Howard K. Stern and Harris are expected to be present.

McCabe says the issue tomorrow will be “personal jurisdiction in Texas over non-resident defendants who have filed special appearances to contest jurisdiction”. He said that even though Stern lost a jurisdictional battle in a now dismissed related Texas Federal case, that ruling will not control in the present case, which involve different allegations.

***

If anyone missed the interview on Scared Monkeys Radio last night about the arrests of Howard K. Stern and Doctors Kapoor and Eroshevich, the website, scaredmonkeys.com archives their shows and you can listen to it by clicking on “play now” on this link.

The thing that struck me about that interview which featured Pathologist Dr Cyril Wecht, Author Dawna Kaufman and Former FBI Special Agent Don Clark, was Dr. Wecht’s demeanor which was  remarkably similarity to Dr Perpers on last Saturdays Geraldo show.

Both men are coroners/pathologists. Both men are accused in the court of public opinion of botching autopsy’s. Perper on Anna Nicole Smith because he relied on someone for important information who had a personal interest in the finding of “accidental death”. That person, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich has now been indicted for felony drug charges related to Anna Nicole’s death.

Wecht who did Daniel Smith’s autopsy and charged over $40,000 for it repeatedly gushes in the press that Daniel (a non abuser) died from a lethal “cocktail” of drugs. In fact, Daniel died from a suspicious massive overdose of methadone which was not prescribed to him. To date, no one has been able to adequately explain how or where Daniel could have came upon this drug.

Both Wecht and Perper have reputations at stake here (ah hem..where have we heard that before). Wecht who had been previously indicted on almost 100 felony counts of public corruption charges, later reduced to 14 emitted an eerie high pitched screaming sound just like Perper did on Geraldo as he defended his autopsy findings, defended Stern and also bashed and trashed Anna Nicoles mother Virgie Arthur. Amazing, since Wecht as a so called professional,  has no personal knowledge of Mrs. Arthur and admitting his information came from “what he has read”. With all the trouble he is in, that is one person who has a lot of nerve mouthing off…

Don K. Clark Building

When I went to Houston Texas to give my sworn affidavit for Virgie Arthur’s lawsuit, I was one nervous person. I was taken directly from the airport to the O’Quinn law firm which is situated in the downtown Houston Lyric Center. Did I mention that I was nervous?

I had done some reading about the firm.  However,  I was not prepared when I was told the first person whom I would be speaking with was former FBI Bureau Chief  Mr. Don Clark. The nervousness quickly faded away because Mr. Clark like everyone else I met in Houston was very gracious and put me right at ease.

A good friend of mine wrote a nice article about Mr. Clark, his life, career and fine credentials. After reading that, I was not surprised to read that Mr. Clark has once again been honored. The above photo is of the newly renamed “Don K. Clark Building”.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents at their annual meeting in December of 2008 voted to change the name of their building that houses the School of Juvenile Justice and Psychology and the Texas Crime Prevention Center.

The school says there will be an official ceremony to rename the building after Mr. Clark. He is a Prairie View A&M alumnus and co-chair of the capital campaign committee and has made significant contributions to the University system.

Texas A&M also had this to say about Mr Clark:

Don Clark is currently employed at The O’Quinn Law Firm as an investigative strategist and jury consultant.  He also works as an on the air Law Enforcement, Security and Counter Terrorism Analyst and Consultant on Law Enforcement and related issues for FOX26 TV in Houston, FOX National News and CNN cable news.

Clark currently serves as a vice chairman of the Texas A&M Chancellor’s Century Council Committee and Co-Chairman of the Prairie View A&M University Capital Campaign Committee.  He also participates on several community boards: Houston Parks, Houston Children’s Charity, D.A.R.E. and The Small Business Administration Advisory Board.  He is a member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and serves on the Go Texan Committee.

With extensions granted and apparent problems with settlement terms agreed to, the late Anna Nicole Smith’s attorney Howard K. Stern has settled his defamation lawsuit against Houston Texas attorney John O’Quinn.

O’Quinn represents the late Anna Nicole Smith’s mother, Virgie Arthur. During and after hearings in Florida to decide Anna Nicole’s final resting place, O’Quinn went on various television shows and implied that Stern was responsible for the death of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel.

A prior announcement one month ago on October 30th, 2008 that the lawsuit was settled led to speculation that the terms may not have been too fruitful for Stern because settlement negotiations were officially postponed due to Florida Attorney Robert Klein having the flu. The negotiations did take place after all on the date that Judge Dimitrouleas had postponed. And there was no public statement from Stern.

The negotiations were allowed to continue until today, December 1st when the “Stipulation For Entry of Dismissal With Prejudice” and “Final Order of Dismissal” was filed.

The only terms revealed are that certain pages of a deposition given by O’Quinn investigator and consultant Don Clark dated October 14th, 2008, will no longer be confidential. The terms of the settlement are “strictly confidential” and neither party is permitted to comment except to say “the matter has been amicably resolved”.

120108_Stern_vs_OQuinn_248_settled.pdf
120108_Stern_vs_OQuinn_249_settled.pdf

Now that Howard K Sterns defamation lawsuit against Houston attorney John O’Quinn is tentatively settled, it appears the wheels will start turning in Virgie Arthur’s defamation lawsuit against Howard K. Stern and CBS Studios in the Southern District Court in Houston Texas.

There has been a protective order issued by Judge Lee H Rosenthal in the case, just as there has been in all the other cases that have arisen out of the tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel.

One of the sections of the order says “confidential information shall not be used for purposes other than in connection with this case”. However, we saw Rita Cosby in New York who is also being sued by Howard K. Stern, freely hand over her deposition as well as those of investigators Don Clark and Wilma Vice to the Florida case.

Howard K. Stern was the only person who objected to having his deposition used from the Cosby case and he is the Plaintiff in both cases. Not too long after, the Florida case is tentatively settled. Could the same happen here?

Protective order: 110408_Arthur_vs_Stern_CBS_100.pdf

In the same case, Federal Correctional Institution inmate Jonathan Riches was denied a request to join in Mrs. Arthurs suit: 110508_Arthur_vs_Stern_CBS_98.pdf

And here is a copy of the docket for this case: Arthur_vs_Stern_et_al_Federal_Docket.html

The numerous lawsuits arising from the death of Anna Nicole Smith are all moving forward. Notable is that most of these suits have protection orders in place for at least a year and a half so the public will have to wait to see some of the more supposedly sensational material.

In Howard K. Stern vs Rita Cosby and Hatchette books, investigators Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine gave depositions. Counsel for Stern in the Florida case of Stern vs O’Quinn requested to use not only those depositions but that of California Private Investigator Jack Harding who says he spoke to Anna Nicole’s son Daniel before his death. Harding says Daniel expressed fear and mistrust of Howard K. Stern’s involvement with his mother. When Daniel died unexpected and tragically in the Bahamas visiting his mother and meeting his newborn sister, Harding’s business card was found in Daniel’s pocket.

O’Quinn offered no objection to the use of those depositions which are protected from public view but Georgia defamation attorney Lin Wood for Stern would not allow Stern’s deposition to be used. Counsel for Rita Cosby also allowed her deposition to be used in Stern vs O’Quinn. Don Clark gave a deposition in Stern vs O’Quinn as well for a total of two that will be looked at in the Florida case.

A customary mediation hearing in Stern vs O’Quinn scheduled for today had to be postponed due to Florida attorney Robert Klein suffering from the flu. A call was made to Sterns counsel Lin Wood that went unanswered so Klein asked co-counsel Krista Barth to reschedule the hearing. She refused to reschedule but an emergency motion to Judge Rosenbaum resulted in the hearing being postponed.

103008_Stern_vs_OQuinn_241.pdf

103008_Stern_vs_OQuinn_240.pdf

November 4th at 4:00pm there will be a status conference in the US District Court case in Houston, Texas of Virgie Arthur vs Howard K. Stern and CBS Studios

And last but not least, a little comic relief in Arthur vs Stern and CBS Studios.

Don Clark

COUP DE GRÂCE:

DON CLARK’S AFFIDAVIT SAYS IT ALL

Summary: Former FBI special agent Don Clark has submitted into the record an affidavit in which he reveals his findings at the conclusion of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel. He concludes that Howard K. Stern was “intimately involved” in their deaths. His affidavit and its contents are now part of the legal record, which has been the objective of many, including this writer, who have believed Mr. Stern may have been responsible for the deaths of 39-year-old Smith and her 20-year-old son.

A day of reckoning

After two years of waiting, someone official has finally said what many have suspected to be true:

“(A)s an FBI investigator, I came to believe that Howard (K.) Stern was intimately involved in the death of both Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel.” (Clark Affidavit 2008, p. 4).

The words are those of Don Clark, former FBI Special Agent-in-Charge and current Investigative Strategist and Jury Consultant for the O’Quinn Law Firm in Houston, TX. John O’Quinn, attorney for Virgie Arthur, mother of Anna Nicole Smith and grandmother of Smith’s son Daniel, asked Mr. Clark to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Ms. Smith and her son. After a long and exhaustive search for the facts, Clark concluded his investigation by finding Howard K. Stern, Smith’s attorney, companion, self-proclaimed lover/husband and one-time father of Smith’s daughter, “intimately involved” in the deaths of both Anna Nicole and her son. On October 3, 2008, Mr. Clark signed a sworn affidavit containing his findings.

Who is Don Clark?

Mr. Clark was born in 1942 in Texas. He grew up in a modest household and was an excellent student by all accounts. In high school, he was class valedictorian. He went on to college and graduated from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelors Degree in Engineering, completed course work for a Masters Degree in Public Administration at Long Island University, New York, and graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University. After college, he served ten years in the U.S. Army where he was awarded the U.S. Army Air Medal for Combat Assaults and two Bronze Stars for Bravery while serving in Vietnam. He was selected by the Chief of Staff of the Army to command an Airborne/Ranger Company in the First Ranger Battalion.

In 1975, Mr. Clark joined the Federal Bureau of Investigations. He attended the FBI’s Executive Development Institute, was a trained SWAT member, bombing instructor, and police-training instructor. Among the high profile FBI cases Mr. Clark participated in, in 1979 he supervised the movement of the Shah of Iran from New York City to San Antonio, TX during the Iranian Hostage Crisis. In 1985, he supervised the investigation of the Palestine Liberation Front terrorist attack aboard the Achille Lauro cruise ship. In 1993, he managed the investigation of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. In 1996, he was in charge of tactical operations during the Freeman crisis in Jordan, Montana.

In 1998, Don Clark coordinated and managed the investigation and prosecution of the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas. His involvement in the Byrd case earned him the U.S. Attorney General’s highest Award for Excellence for his efforts in the investigation and prosecution of those involved in the murder. Also in 1998, he was in charge of the investigation to locate FBI’s top-10 fugitive Rafael Resendes Ramirez, the “Railcar Killer”.

Mr. Clark served as a Special Agent of the FBI in Miami, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Newark, San Antonio and Houston. His assignments as an investigative agent and manager in the FBI included foreign counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, violent crimes, organized crime, drugs and other FBI investigative programs. Mr. Clark retired from the federal government on February 3, 2000 after 35 years of service (Business Wire 2003).

Some background

Mr. Clark, in his capacity of Investigative Strategist and Jury Consultant for the O’Quinn Law Firm, was asked by John O’Quinn to investigate Stern’s relationship with Anna Nicole Smith and Stern’s potential involvement in the deaths of Ms. Smith and her son. O’Quinn is the attorney for Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole’s mother. Ms. Arthur believes Stern is responsible for her daughter and grandson’s deaths.

O’Quinn took Ms. Arthur on as a client when she fought Stern in Florida court in order to obtain possession of her daughter’s remains for burial in Texas. Ms. Arthur did not prevail in her bid to take her daughter home; instead Ms. Arthur was forced to attend her daughter’s funeral and burial in the Bahamas where the events were extensively covered by Entertainment Tonight, a tabloid-TV program with contractual ties exclusively with Stern and, prior to her death, with Anna Nicole and Stern.

Virgie Arthur made it clear to her Texas attorney that she believed Stern intentionally caused the death of her daughter and grandson in order to take custody of Ms. Smith’s newborn daughter Dannielynn, who stood to inherit millions of dollars if Stern prevailed in a lawsuit Ms. Smith was embroiled in with the Estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall, Texas oil tycoon. Upon hearing the accusations, O’Quinn enlisted the investigative services of Don Clark.

Over the course of Clark’s investigation, O’Quinn was apprised of the findings, which appeared to concur with Ms. Arthur’s suspicions of Howard K. Stern. During televised interviews of various sensational tabloid news programs, Mr. O’Quinn asserted Ms. Arthur’s beliefs. Stern’s reaction to O’Quinn’s televised utterances was to sue Mr. O’Quinn and the O’Quinn Law Firm for defamation.

It is in this context that Don Clark has written and submitted a sworn affidavit to show the court in the defamation matter that O’Quinn said on television only that which he honestly believed to be true and that his utterances were not made with malice.

The affidavit

For those who have always suspected Howard K. Stern played a role in the deaths of Anna Nicole and her son Daniel, Clark’s affidavit serves as a long awaited and welcomed affirmation. Until Mr. Clark’s legally entered affidavit outlining the crimes Stern allegedly committed, no legal institution had formally and officially acknowledged Stern’s involvement. Stern has never been formally accused by any official law enforcement agency. The Seminole Police Department found no indications of foul play and the Medical Examiner deemed Anna Nicole’s death an accidental overdose. An Inquest into the death of Daniel Wayne Smith, held in the Bahamas, came to the same conclusion.

Mr. Clark’s affidavit has changed all that. Those who suspect Stern of committing the ultimate crime can finally say their suspicions have finally been acknowledged in the arena of the Law. Allegorically, the charges have finally entered the halls of Justice. For Virgie Arthur’s supporters, this is a major coup. For this writer in particular, it is exactly what he has been waiting for. Approximately

100308_Stern_vs_OQuinn_203-28_ExhibitD.pdf

By: Anonymous, California

Related: All approximately 85 Summary Judgment documents.