Prosecutors decline Rush Limbaugh's plea offer

Associated Press/ Miami Herald ^ | Fri, Jan. 23, 2004 | JILL BARTON

[woofie]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Prosecutors rejected a deal Rush Limbaugh's attorney suggested that would have seen the conservative radio commentator enter a drug intervention program rather than face charges for illegally obtaining prescription painkillers, records show.

Instead, Palm Beach County prosecutors wanted Limbaugh to plead guilty to the third-degree felony of "doctor shopping" - visiting several doctors to receive duplicate prescriptions of a controlled narcotic.

According to records of exchanges between prosecutors and Limbaugh's attorney, the prosecutors' offer included three years' probation, participation in a drug treatment program and random drug testing. Limbaugh has been under investigation for months, has not been arrested and no charges have been filed.

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, dismissed the prosecutors' offer and pointed in his letters to a state policy against prosecuting addicts. Black said Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer had told him prosecutors instead go after drug dealers and doctors who illegally prescribe medications.

Limbaugh's attorneys began discussing the case with prosecutors in early October - more than a week before Limbaugh stunned listeners by admitting he was addicted to prescription painkillers and would leave his show for five weeks to enter rehab.

The letters and court records were first obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel through a public records request and disclosed in a story the newspaper published Friday.

In an attempt to head off charges, Black wrote prosecutors on Dec. 11 to suggest that his client enter a court-sponsored drug intervention program without a guilty plea.

"I believe this proposal would be in keeping with the public interest," Black wrote. "The public is better served by treating addicts as patients rather than criminals."

Prosecutor James Martz wrote back on Dec. 15 that an intervention program alone was not sufficient. He said prosecutors had enough evidence to support more than 10 felony charges.

Martz said a guilty plea would allow prosecutors to drop their efforts to unseal Limbaugh's medical records.

On. Dec. 22, Limbaugh's attorneys denied to reporters that he was seeking a deal. It was unclear Friday whether the prosecution offer is still on the table.

In a statement Friday, Black called the prosecutors' offer "ludicrous." He said he was asking "for the same treatment anyone else in this situation would receive" and said the state's response was "consistent with their double standard in this case."

"The facts are: Mr. Limbaugh went to these doctors to relieve chronic, intractable pain; there was no doctor shopping," Black said.

Black criticized the letters' release, saying it violates the Florida statutes, the rules of procedure and evidence, and Florida Bar Rules. In his Dec. 11 letter marked "confidential," Black listed Florida statutes that showed why it should not be released.

"Because the state has no case against Mr. Limbaugh they continually seek to discredit him in the media," Black said in Friday's statement.

But prosecutors said they consulted with public records experts from the Florida Attorney General's office and the Florida Bar because they were worried that releasing the letter could raise questions of professional responsibility.

But those experts said that Florida's public records law takes precedence, adding that there was an ethical and legal obligation to release the letter.

Prosecutors began their investigation of Limbaugh, 53, last year, after his former maid told them she was Limbaugh's longtime supplier of prescription painkillers.

The investigation is being held up while an appeals court decides whether investigators should have access to Limbaugh's medical records. Investigators seized them in November, but courts have ordered them sealed. Limbaugh's attorneys have argued that the seizure violated his privacy rights.

Limbaugh and his attorneys argue that the investigation is politically motivated and that the medical records would only prove Limbaugh was prescribed painkillers for a serious medical condition, leading to his addiction.

Limbaugh has also repeatedly criticized the investigation during his nationwide radio show and has accused authorities of leaking information to damage his reputation. His show reaches some 600 markets and about 20 million listeners a week.

Palm Beach County State Attorney spokesman Mike Edmondson declined comment Friday.

Krischer, the state attorney, has repeatedly said prosecutors are protecting Limbaugh's rights and that he is presumed innocent.

[anniegetyourgun]

"He said prosecutors had enough evidence to support more than 10 felony charges."

"Limbaugh has been under investigation for months, has not been arrested and no charges have been filed."

Help me out here....

[woofie]

I aint no lawyer

[ambrose]

They need the medical records to charge him with anything. No records, no case.

[Orangedog]

I wonder if we are ever going to see the drug warriors in the Rush camp want to see the laws changed to scrap the failed drug war or at least put it on a very tight leash. The drug war is what gives prosecutors like this one the power to go on these witch hunts. But somehow I think they are won't want to change a thing, except for pushing to give their boy a pass.

[Keith in Iowa]

Different soure, same topic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1063830/posts

[conserv13]

If they have evidence then they should charge him. I am not a big Rush fan, so if *I* was the judge I would make Rush sit there and listen while i ranted about activist judges, etc...

[anniegetyourgun]

So, Rush is right about them wanting to "fish" in his records for a case?

[Uncle Hal]

From the tone of this article, it appears to me Rush is going to face felony charges. I do not see how you can read it any other way. I realize they are still negotiating and anything could happen. I would hate to see Rush charged. This would hurt our cause greatly. Rush has been a great conservative voice and one of the main reasons the GOP controls congress and the presidency.

[King Black Robe]

More info needed. I've known people addicted to prescription drugs. Like any addict, they do what they must to get what they need. I've never seen anyone charged with any crime over it. Probably because, being legal drugs, it is very hard to decide where the blame lies. No one can predict whether they will beocme addicted or not. Perhaps ones character is revealed in what one does when faced with this kind of addiction, but getting there in the first place is not a failure of the individual. Some of these drugs are highly addictive. There is a long history, for that matter, of drugs moving on and off the FDA list of potentially addictive substances. Research valium. That stuff ruined a lot of lives before the FDA figured out how addictive it was.

[King Black Robe]

Rush is vital to our cause, and the left is revealing just how phony their compassion really is.

[ambrose]

I doubt they're "fishing"... they know what is in them, and so does Rush.

Rush should be treated no better or worse than anyone else... and the fact is that many ordinary criminals get to walk when inadmissible evidence is supressed by the court.

[demlosers]

The more this thing drags on, the more it appears political.

[Uncle Hal]

I agree, there is a concerted effort by the left to bring Rush down. He has done great harm to their cause. There are powerful people in very high places that want to destroy and silence Rush once and for all. We must give him our strongest support.

[conserv13]

True, Rush has been a great conservative voice. But kinda like Bill Bennett, did he practice what he preached? In my mind, no. He hid his drug addiction from his wife and family. He damaged his own health, almost ending his career.

Now there will always be an asterisk * by his name in the history books, 'yeah, he was a legendary conservative, but then there was that pill scandal...'

[bassmaner]

But somehow I think they are won't want to change a thing, except for pushing to give their boy a pass.

How true.

WOD bump

[tsomer]

I would hate to see Rush charged. This would hurt our cause greatly.

I would too, but it won't matter a hill of beans to our cause.

I think Rush should scorch the earth if they continue this; he could sue the drug makers and his M.D.'s for making him an addict. This would shake things up, at the very least. Then perhaps he could go after that hack who's persecuting him.

He's got the support and the means to defy those bastards. He should.

[kegler4]

"Like any addict, they do what they must to get what they need. I've never seen anyone charged with any crime over it."

I live in an area hit by oxycontin abuse and plenty of people have been charged in connection with it. I personally don't think it's right, but it's definitely happened.

[Belial]

I agree, there is a concerted effort by the left to bring Rush down.

What happened to responsibility? Rush admitted he liked to get high on pills. These pills weren't all obtained legally, you can bet on that. Now he's going to have to pay the piper, and all the conspiracy noise about liberals persecuting Rush is just a page out of the Clinton playbook.

[Centurion2000]

this is a political hack job ....