Mary-Kate Olsen has been legally compelled to testify in front of a grand jury in the Heath Ledger investigation. The NYPD has closed their case looking into the death of the 28 year-old actor, but the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency is trying to determine where Heath obtained the prescription medications that led to a fatal drug interaction. Mary-Kate requested immunity from prosecution before talking to the DEA, and many people thought that looked suspicious. Others with legal backgrounds have said that she might just be proceeding cautiously as her lawyer advises and that we shouldn't jump to conclusions.
Mary-Kate has not been granted immunity and was served a subpoena to testify in front of a grand jury. A grand jury determines whether there's enough evidence to proceed with a trial. The proceedings are private and closed to the public, and Mary-Kate does not have the right to have her attorney with her when she testifies. If the grand jury decides that there is enough evidence to go forward with a federal trial it could possibly be open to the public.
Access Hollywood is reporting this story, and while I don't doubt that Mary-Kate was served a subpoena their facts differ from other reports. They claim Heath died from five medications, not six, and that there are two drugs he didn't have prescriptions for. The official coroner's report listed six drugs as the cause of death, and a story in the NY Daily News earlier this week said that the only drug Heath didn't have a prescription for was Oxycontin. Access Hollywood says that he didn't have prescriptions for either the Oxycontin or the Vicodin. Whatever happened, Mary-Kate is going to have to talk:
As the investigation surrounding Heath Ledger's accidental overdose continues, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office in New York has confirmed to Access Hollywood that they have issued a subpoena that would force Mary-Kate Olsen to testify in front of a grand jury.
Five medications were found in Heath's body at the time of his death, according to the DEA, three of which he'd obtained via doctors in Texas and Los Angeles. At the center of the investigation is how he acquired Oxycontin and Vicodin without a legal prescription.
The actress was the first person called by the masseuse who discovered Heath's body after the "The Dark Knight" actor's untimely death
According to Benjamin Brafman, a high-profile defense attorney not associated with the case, seeking immunity is not the same as admitting guilt.
"It may not mean anything other than she's getting good legal advice," Brafman told Access.
"You don't know what the DEA may suspect in this case and I think it's a cautious way to proceed. I think it would be wrong to assume she's done something criminal simply because she's invoking her 5th amendment against self-incrimination."
[Access Hollywood as found on omg.yahoo.com]
We can't presume to know what Mary-Kate's motivations were for seeking immunity, and it's possible she was just taking her lawyer's advice. Yesterday she denied supplying Heath drugs at all and her lawyer called the stories about it "inaccurate and incomplete."
Mary-Kate Olsen is shown at a screening for The Wackness in NY on 6/25/08. Credit: WORKUM/bauergriffinonline.com
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