Limbaugh Attorney Black's Statement on Leaks from SAO

Rush Limbaugh Website ^ | 01-23-04

[AlwaysLurking]

Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office Dances Atop Their SUV, Releases Confidential Correspondence

Roy Black Comments on the State's Release of Confidential Correspondence

Miami, FL – January 23, 2004 – Roy Black, attorney for Rush Limbaugh, issued the following statement today regarding confidential correspondence that was released to the media by Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer.

“My letter to Mr. Krischer regarding Mr. Limbaugh’s case asked that Mr. Limbaugh be afforded the treatment anyone else would receive. The State's response was preposterous, but 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. Mr. Limbaugh never considered accepting the State’s ludicrous offer. He was not going to plea to something he did not do. We sent them a letter suggesting Mr. Limbaugh be treated in a similar manner that others had been treated. They responded with a preposterous offer. Discussions ended at that time. At no time was there ever a plea agreement of any kind.

"What the records don’t show is that before we could draft a letter responding to the State, we received a phone call from a newspaper reporter, as a result of a leak by the State Attorney’s office, asking us whether Mr. Limbaugh had agreed to enter a plea. As I told the court last month, we think the State Attorney’s Office should be investigated for journalist shopping.

"What is most troubling here is the continued violations of Florida law and bar ethics by the State Attorney’s Office. One need look no further than the bold caption on top of my letter alerting everyone to the confidential nature of the communication. The disclosure of these highly confidential communications violates the Florida statutes, the rules of procedure and evidence, and the Florida Bar Rules governing professional conduct. Because the State has no case against Mr. Limbaugh they continually seek to discredit him in the media.”

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Do you think using narcotics that have been illegally obtained, whether from a doctor or his maid, is perfectly okay?"

The point that a lot of people miss-is that someone may have obtained narcotics via a legal prescription,but,if the patient fraudulently represented himself to the physician in the first place ( claiming he needed narcotics for a physical pain,when the need was to feed an addiction)-the patient has broken the law and the drugs obtained,even though through a prescription,are not considered legal.Otherwise,dealers could legally go doctor to doctor,claiming they needed narcotics for pain and avoid the hassles of the black market.

[Cubs Fan]

---Strange that it has become a priority of the REPUBLICAN Florida Attorney General---

Some examples of Other Republicans--George Ryan (gave blanket death penalty clemencies to all Illinois death row inmates) Olympia Snow, Arlen (Scottish Law) Specter, Lincloln chaffee and Jim Jeffords (used to be one) to name a few.

Just because someone is a republican does not make them a conservative.

Limbaugh should pay for his crime (whatever exactly it may be). Give him a record, community service, a fine, probation. All well and good. But I think they won't stop till he's in jail. And once again we'll see criminals like Clinton paying no penalty while our side (at least my side perhaps not yours) gets selected out and given far worse punishment than anyone else would.

[terilyn]

I personally think it's sad that doctors, who have been trained and have a degree that allows them to make medical decisions, are prohibited from helping patients.

Doctors are scared stiff of helping their patients manage chronic pain because they know the feds are watching how many prescriptions they write and will come after them if they do.

It's crazy in this day and age, when we have the best medical technology and drugs in the world, that doctors cannot help patients for fear of being prosecuted. And those same patients have to turn to desperate means to get the drugs to manage their pain.

I read an article about a doctor in AZ who's area of expertese was pain management. She had an excellent reputation in the area. One day as she was just getting ready to close up for the day, the feds busted in and arrested her and raided all of her files. She was devastated, shocked, as were her patients, her husband, and her two small children.

Sad that it's come to this.

A witch hunt is right. If the Palm Beach DA had anything, he'd have charged Rush by now. It's been months and months. He's got nothing and he's on a fishing expedition hoping something will come to light. In the mean time I find it sad that people have already decided he's guilty when he hasn't been charged with anything.

[NOCOMMIES2004]

Right on Mr. Smithee!

[TigersEye]

I also have had chronic back pain for 18 years. I have never taken drugs for it but I have lost a lot of work time for that choice. Years. I do still engage in heavy physical activities and have all along. Some times I end up crippled with pain for days and sometimes not. Life goes on. Pain doesn't mean lying prone for the rest of your life. Besides when it began it hurt just as much lying down as any other activity.

[lindael]

Hi I am new here. I have a photo I would like to put up but I am having problems. Could someone email me and tell me how to include a photo in a reply. Thanks for your help

[OldFriend]

None of this alters the fact that Rush got himself into this trouble and blaming the connections to Reno, etc. is not material.

The punishment should fit the crime and at this point we don't know what the crime was other than Rush abused narcotics that could not possibly have been prescribed for him in the amounts suggested.

[TigersEye]

Notice how garbled he sounds by Friday. He's not clean yet. V's wife.

Maybe he's in pain.

[TigersEye]

Rush lives and works on both coasts and therefore, in my experience, needs several doctors. ... Rush saw only four or five doctors, some of them specialists. That is not doctor shopping.

From what I read there were three doctors interviewed by the FL Attorny Gen's office. Two were in a FL clinic. One was on duty while the other was off. In essence that is one practice; both doctors using the same medical records both aware of the complete history of each patient. The doctor on the West Coast was the surgeon who did his choclear implant. Does anyone think Rush flew to CA, fooled a surgeon into thinking he was deaf and had a choclear implant just to get some pain killers?

No, it was not doctor shopping.

[RayChuang88]

A witch hunt is right. If the Palm Beach DA had anything, he'd have charged Rush by now. It's been months and months. He's got nothing and he's on a fishing expedition hoping something will come to light. In the mean time I find it sad that people have already decided he's guilty when he hasn't been charged with anything.

My guess is that the Bush Administration's own Department of Justice may be quietly looking at this case with great interest. DoJ officials may want to check with the Palm Beach County DAO and and find out if the lead prosecutor on this case may have been quietly promised a promotion of sorts and/or given "slush" money from officials high up in the Democratic National Committee to try to bring up this case. If what I think is true, there could be raids by the Feds on DNC headquarters, the offices of former President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and possibly even the editorial offices of CNN, MSNBC, and the news division offices of NBC, CBS and ABC. In short, if I were Terry McAuliffe I'd be REAL nervous right now.

[TigersEye]

What a bunch of BS! I listen almost daily and Rush is totally on the mark. He has had incredible insights on the primaries and debates and all other issues.

I agree completely, ValentinesDay. OldFriend, see post #128.

[X-FID]

And perhaps if he wasn't playing golf three or four times a week -- a game that places a huge amount of stress on the back -- he wouldn't have been in so much pain. And yes, I am a genius.

No it doesn't, unless you are a hacker. It's a smooth easy swing distributed over your whole body, if you have lower back pain to begin with though, it would be difficult to do many of the things related to golf.

[OldFriend]

If you really listen you know he's in trouble. It's not calm reasoned discussion, it's frenetic and an inablility to focus. It's inappropriate laughter, distraction, and yes no doubt pain.

[TigersEye]

Do you think using narcotics that have been illegally obtained, whether from a doctor ...

Drugs obtained from a doctor through a Rx aren't illegally obtained unless you engage in doctor shopping. See #129.

[TigersEye]

...and yes no doubt pain.

Must not be on drugs then huh?

[TigersEye]

But, eventually, we'll all pay for this selfishness because he will become a hollow man and the views he holds will be hollow, too. So, we all lose. V's wife.

Welllll, Rush owes it to you does he? Sorry, I'll defer to your superior knowledge of selfishness.

[ValentinesDay]

I watched on the DittoCam today and Rush was NOT garbled. But he did talk with his mouth full of cigar on occassion. That is what made him sound funny. He was being lazy and not taking out his cigar when he talked with a caller.

[TigersEye]

I suppose he hasn't but I don't logically see any other way of obtaining them.

Since the AG is investigating him for doctor shopping it would be logical to assume he got them with Rx's. Unless you're doctor shopping that's legal.

[ValentinesDay]

Dancing on the SUV!

http://home.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=1b7d416b-15b8-5ff3-1920-70043582308a&size=

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

All I'm trying to figure out is why anybody who claims they are innocent and are being persecuted would ask for any type of deal to a prosecutor. That's ALL I want to know. I've been asking it for weeks.

An attorney's first order of business is to minimize the consequences of a legal action against his client. Ultimate guilt or innocence is usually a secondary concern.

Regarding Rush, one has to read between the lines. Given what I understand of his situation, he probably did violate state and perhaps federal laws while arranging his self-medication. Also, from what I understand, most prosecutors would probably drop charges against first-time offenders who had sought treatment (regardless of other issues, such as Rush's prominance).

Given the prosecutor's zeal in pursuing Rush (and leaking to the media, if so), it seems to me that there is certainly a defamation project under way against Rush. This is most likely the work of the DNC and their cohorts in Florida. Like Rush or not, this is a battle that conservatives should join.