Anna Nicole Smith's son, 20 year-old Daniel Wayne Smith, had been dead "for some time" before hospital officials were called in to perform advanced life saving procedures, The Tribune was told.
This information comes after a report from Magistrate Linda Virgill that a coroner's inquest will open on October 23. While she is now aware of the cause of death, she is still awaiting a toxicology report to confirm it, she said.
The inquest will take a week or longer if necessary, Magistrate Virgill told the local and international press. At this time, a number of staff from both Princess Margaret and Doctors Hospitals, the police, persons Daniel may have come into contact with before visiting the hospital, and even his mother, Anna Nicole, will be called to give evidence.
"Whenever we have sudden deaths, and we term them suspicious deaths, it is usual to have this type of procedure. It is usual for the police to commence their investigation and for us here at the Coroner's Court to call for an inquiry and hold an inquest. So there is nothing unusual about this particular incident.
"This is just a normal run of the mill situation where unfortunately, because death is never readily accepted, we have someone who is dead under unusual circumtances, which we term suspicious. And it is suspicious until such time as the jurors determine otherwise. An inquest is held to determine how, when, where, and by what manner Daniel met or came by his death," she said.
Daniel Smith, was pronounced dead in Doctor's Hospital at 10:05 Sunday morning after spending the night visiting his mother who had given birth to a baby girl Thursday morning.
According to a statement from officials at Doctor's Hospital, Daniel was last seen alive on Sunday. September 10 at 6:20am. He was attending to his mother. An alarm was raised at 9:38am when he was found to be "unresponsive", sitting upright in a chair in the corner of the room. Resuscitative efforts were made but Daniel was pronounced dead at 10:05am. His body has since been transferred to the Princess Margaret Hospital where an autopsy and toxicology test is underway.
Magistrate Virgill said that they are still not prepared to speak about what exactly happened in the hospital room that night.
"This is a matter that will be held with a jury, and the jury must make their findings. So if I am premature and 1 give you cause of death we could tamper with the jury pool. That would not be legal or law(ful) at the end of the day, nor would it be right. We must protect interested persons or parties," she said.
Magistrate Virgill said that based on the findings of the jury, if the case involves that of a criminal nature. then the matter wiIl be referred to the Supreme Court for criminal charges.
Ms Virgill also denied a report in the Associated Press attributed to her stating that a third person had been in the room at the time of Daniel's death.
"No, that is incorrect. ﾠYes, a question was asked of me whether or not a third person was in the room. I said that I could not confirm that. ﾠWhat I could say is that based on the police report there may have been other persons or person in the room."
Ms Virgill said that she has spoken with Ms. Smith and would not disclose anything she has discussed with her, with the press, as she will be called as a witness in the inquest.
Ms Smith's legal representative, Michael Scott of Callenders and Co., said that she is still in the Bahamas. He would not say where she is staying.
"She is in seclusion with her family and friends as you would expect any parent who has sustained this kind of loss – you would expect them to be in that situation," he said.
Magistrate Virgill said that she is guarded in the amount of information that she will release at this time as the police investigation is still ongoing.
"What I am saying is, on examination of the body there are no visible signs of injuries to the body. No physical injuries. And that is why you need an inquest, because even though you have the medical cause of death, we need legally to have the legal cause of death. So when I use the word 'no external injury', we are talking about physical injuries," she said.
By: PAUL TURNQUEST, Tribune Staff Reporter
