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
This doesn’t add up to me. If you have nothig to hide……
About time regarding the subpoena.
i am so confused! what is going on?
I’ll word it more simply RaeJillian.
Ok, so maybe I’m just naive, but why would you need to invoke your 5th amendment rights if you haven’t done anything incriminating? I mean, are just afraid that someone will construe your actions as being against the law? But, if you were following the law, then where is that fear coming from? Why would you be proceeding with such an abundance of caution if you didn’t do anything wrong? I think the way that she is handling this is more incriminating than anything that she can say. I guess actions speak louder than words.
Wow, I didn’t realize that the investigation had yielded enough evidence of a crime in order to even present it before a grand jury. I wonder who the target(s) are. This can’t be good news for anyone involved, but MK Olsen seeking immunity before testifying is just good counsel.
I think that she is a celeb, and the just doesn’t want her name tied into his death AT ALL. There has been such a media circus surrounding his death, and ANYTHING she says, be it something as simple as, “I don’t know” is going to be blasted all over magazines. Maybe she just wants to stay out of the light as much as possible, even if that means making herself look worse. Whatever the case may be, wont really matter now if there really is a subpoena.
And speakin’ of subpoenas, darlins’,
I think another one needs to drawn up for Lil’ Miss Munchkin to haul her wee wittle kaboose into Fashion Court and explain those orange traffic cones she’s wearing for shoes.
WTF is up with that?
Is she trying to channel Donna Summer with hose scary orange platforms?
I don’t like to make assumptions, but she is a ‘child actor’ and we all know what happens to 99.9% off all ‘child actors’… I’m just sayin
The Wackness = MK’s outfit.
I’d also guess that in the context of a grand jury hearing, she might be asked questions about her own drug use, and wouldn’t want to be put in jeopardy as a result of anything she might say under oath. Makes sense to me!
Even if she didn’t give him any drugs, the fact remains that a whole bunch of unnecessary people were called before paramedics were called. Time is of the essence in an emergency, and it’s possible Heath could have been saved if Mary Kate and her masseuse weren’t busy piddling around calling each other and a ton of bodyguards.
Haha JohnnieR! I was going to say “at least she looks cute in this outfit” until my eyes strolled down to THOSE SHOES.
On pleading the 5th, she might do that if there were piles of illegal drugs in her home, even if those drugs had nothing to do with Ledger’s death.
I understand why she would invoke her 5th amendment rights even if she hadn’t done anything wrong. I was involved in a court case last year where I was just testifying as a witness, and I hadn’t done anything wrong so I didn’t think I needed to talk to an attorney… yeah, big mistake! It’s amazing how lawyers can twist anything and everything you say into something completely different – I’m sure she’s just following good legal advice.
@ April “It’s amazing how lawyers can twist anything and everything you say into something completely different – I’m sure she’s just following good legal advice. ”
Exactly! You’re right.
I still get the sense that she’s loathe to have to admit to buying Oxy’s illegally, and doesn’t want to either A. Admit she uses pills recreationally, B. Gets them from a dealer, not a doctor, and C. hooked Heath up with some of said Oxy’s which contributed to her friend’s death.
I’d be pleading the damn 5th, too!
Keep in mind how many perjury/obstruction cases arose from things completely unrelated to the issue at hand. Clinton was under investigation for Whitewater not infidelity. She can be asked just about anything, not just about Heath and could find herself facing jail time. Annicka seems to have considerable insight into the details of that night so I’m not sure why she hasn’t be subpoenaed as well.
MK dresses like she’s stoned outta her mind most times. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s using oxycontin either. TESTIFY!
I would not dream of undergoing any sort of legal procedure without an attorney. If I were her (even if I had done absolutely nothing illegal) I would expect my lawyer to ask for immunity in exchange for my testimony. B/c a good lawyer should be looking out for his/her client no matter what the circumstance and whatever eventuallity might befall them.
Obviously I agree that she (well actually the masseuse) should have called 911. However…she has been in the spotlight her entire life. It may be her immediate reaction to call for her own personal security rather than to call 911. Simply b/c she has had to rely on having security for as long as she can remember. It wouldn’t be a regular person’s natural reaction; it may have been hers.
Finally, she was (as I recall) in CA at the time. 3000 miles away. She certainly didn’t have anything to do with the situation personally (I think it was suggested maybe she was with him the night before) and she may not have realized how dire the situation was. She was on the phone, not there in person. Obviously she wasn’t there taking his pulse…maybe she thought he was passed out. It would be a big conclusion to jump to the fact that he was dead/dying when someone randomly calls her on the phone.
And she’s not trained to handle emergencies (if she knew/thought it was an emergency). Some people totally freak out and lose all sense of reason when confronted with an emergency. I have done so in far less serious circumstances than this (and again this is assuming she knew the gravity of the situation from the info she was getting–over the phone, 3000 miles away).
I am not, nor have I ever been, an Olsen fan. I do think she is being unfairly and prematurely blamed for something that was most likely totally beyond her control.
Probably they were drug buddies… doesn’t mean she killed him, wanted him dead, or did anything beyond what her instinct (however wrong) told her to do. I think we should keep in mind innocent until proven guilty and there doesn’t seem to be any truly grievous evidence against her…other than perhaps bad judgement in a difficult situation.
Finally he was supposedly dead for some time before the massuese arrived. This just seems like she is being crucified without any facts to back it up…
And sorry for the rant but I have read so many comments–not necessarily here—of people blaming her for Heath’s death, which is ridiculous based on what is known….maybe info will turn up that will change the situation but until then doesn’t she deserve the benefit of the doubt? I think people just often like to have someone to blame in the case of a horrible accident and right now she’s been cast in that role…despite a lack of evidence that she is guilty in his death.
eh, she’ll get out of doing any jailtime anyway, so it’s moot. They usually do.
Also, at what point is the person who makes a bad judgment with pills to take responsibility for it? People do dumb things and get killed every day, unfortunately. I doubt MK or anybody force-fed him.
This little wackadoodle looks more and more twacked out with each passing day. I liked em better when they were the sweet little Michelle!
love the shoes
just read………apparently it’s all off
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24141679-601,00.html
huh: totally agree with you. I am not an Olsen fan, either, (don’t dislike them, but have no strong feelings about them either way), but there has been a lot of blame heaped on MK regarding who called whom and why, which I think is very unfair.
The massuse is the one who called MK. The massuse is the one who made two other phone calls before calling 911 (which, as huh pointed out, MK could not do, as she was not in New York and calling 911 gets you LOCAL emergency personnel only).
Yet, “the massuse” is an unnamed, annonymous stranger, and it’s much easier to blame MK for any delays.
If I had been MK on the phone with the massuse, I would have said “OK, you call 911 right now and I’ll call Joe and Bubba (the bodyguards, whatever their names were), who will meet you there in case there are any problems”
As for the request for immunity–anyone who has either worked in the legal system or been involved in a court case with lawyers will understand very well that you demand ALL your rights, no matter what the circumstances, because by the time you realize you need them, it’s too late.
(For example, if someone is questioned by the police, if the are smart, they say NOTHING without a lawyer…but lots of people would take that as an admission of guilt. It’s not. It is just using the rights you have as a citizen.)
Need to add (to my already longwinded post!), I just read the article hyperlinked by xiaoecho (thanks!) and I hadn’t realized the massuse spent nine minutes calling MK.
That DOES seem like a lot of unnessary time, but is still, in my opinion, the responsibility of the massuse who was right there.
No she didnt force feed him the pills but youre supposed to be a FRIEND. How many of you would hear of a friend in trouble and think of yourself first?
Scenario: My friend is sick you say? (to the clueless massuese calling) WHY ARRE YOU ON THE PHONE WITH ME??!!!!! CALL THE DAMN PARAMEDICS IDIOT!!!!!!
NOW!!!!!
See how easy that was?
They were probably together BECAUSE they both used. And in that case she was HELPING HIM TO BE AN ADDICT. His wife, who really cared about him, obviously gave him an ultimatum – stop using or you lose us – that’s what someone who cares about you truly does -they DONT make their STASH available to you. AND THAT’S WHY HEATH DIED – SO THEY COULD GET THE DRUGS OUT OF THE APT FIRST. I say let public judgement rain down on her, maybe she’ll pull her crap together and stop being a waste of space.
Honestly, I’m so disgusted with these clueless ass females in this generation…can someone tell me WHY its so popular to be a thoroughly self absorbed, unintelligent waste of space?
I would never call ANYONE a waste of space (well, maybe killers and pedophiles…just so we can get some perspective here).
Nobody knows what was said to MK or what she said.
There is no evidence she gave drugs to Heath Ledger (remember most of the drugs he had were perscription meds given by DOCTORS).
Has anyone considered that maybe Ledger was providing drugs to Mary Kate?
It’s easy to hate and blame her because she’s alive and some people just plain don’t like her, but Ledger was not a saint (his behaviour in the months before his death was not exemplary, by any means)and he was also older than MK and had been involved with drugs before).
I’m just saying dumping all the accusations and blame on MK may sound good (especially if you don’t like her), but might not be realistic.
The masseuse was doing what she was told.
Wait until security got there to clean the place up. Because there was gonna be alot of medical/police personnel in the place wandering around.
I would take 3 or 4 security people to arrive and in – oh, say – about 9 minutes gather up everything incriminating and THEN call Heath some help.
9 minutes is a long time.
Her fortune is based on KIDS clothing and Middle America moms probably wouldnt buy clothes from a junkie.
I’ve seen pix of her looking a hot mess, TOTALLY stoned and often looks disheveled and grimy – hygiene takes 2nd place in your life when you’re using.
This was about HER and multi-million dollar Wal-Mart contracts, it was NOT about her friend dead or dying on the bed.
Czarina
If Heath had been someone close to you, you’d be furious…and believe me you’d want some answers. She’s the only one who wouldnt just talk – because she cant go under oath and answer the question “Did you ever do drugs with Heath and did you ever get drugs with him?” There’s no way her lawyer would let her perjure herself.
She also cant answer alot of those kind of questions.
I’m alot older than you I bet, and I grew up during the 80’s and I almost lost MANY friends to drugs and I KNOW how not having friends who REALLY care enough about you to call BS you on and tell you when you’ve crossed the line can cost you alot. And I know that because we wouldnt stand by and do nothing, some of them are still here.
When all you do is spend money, drink coffee and go to parties and premieres, pray tell, what is she?
I’m just calling BS.
Ms Adamantia Claus: Actually, I’d bet you’re NOT a lot older than I am, as I grew up in the 80’s, too.
I agree that if someone you love (or care about) is involved with drugs, you should do anything you can to help them.
Unfortunately, you can’t always do that. Like alcoholics, the addict must own their own addiction first, before anyone can really help them.
Being there, letting them know you care, trying to help however they’ll let you is all you can do.
By your standards, why do you not hold Michelle Willimas accountable? She had to know if Heath was on drugs. She must have known his contacts and people he hung out with. She ended their relationship instead of “saving” the man she loved and the father of her daughter. Is that her fault?
I don’t think that. I don’t think Heath’s bad choices are MK’s fault, either.
I admired Heath Ledger as an actor–I was shocked and saddened by his death, which I consider a tragedy.
But, like so many people today, we always look for someone else to blame, rather than holding anyone accountable for their own mistakes and choices.
Heath must be blamed for not taking better care of his life, at least for his daughter’s sake.
The sad truth is that Heath killed himself. Not suicide, but carelessness and bad choices.
Heath had friends, family and people who loved him. Why single out MK to blame for “not calling BS on him”?. Why excuse the massuse for “doing what she’s told” as if the massuse was not an adult able to think for herself?
Why try so hard to blame Mary-Kate Olsen?
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