Posted on 01/26/2004 4:48:57 PM PST by AlwaysLurking
Limbaugh's pill use not extraordinary, lawyer says
BY DANIEL de VISE ddevise@herald.com
Rush Limbaugh's attorney mounted an offensive Monday, accusing Palm Beach County prosecutors of smear tactics and likening his client to any ordinary American with chronic pain.
''This nation is full of people who take medication every day and will do so for the rest of their lives,'' said Roy Black, speaking in a news conference in Miami.
Discussing the prescription-drug abuse allegations in unprecedented detail, Black reasoned that the quantity of medicine Limbaugh is accused of ingesting -- 1,800 pills in 210 days -- works out to roughly 8.5 pills a day, ``certainly not an outrageous amount.''
Black questioned the motives of Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer in releasing details last week of sensitive plea negotiations between Limbaugh and prosecutors.
The December correspondence, unflattering to Limbaugh, shows the radio talk-show host proposing to settle the case through treatment, potentially averting a permanent criminal record. Prosecutors counter: Plead guilty to a single felony charge of ''doctor shopping'' and avoid prison time. Both offers were rejected.
Black said the plea negotiations shouldn't have been released. He portrayed the incident as part of a politically motivated campaign to discredit his client.
Black said the government's plea offer came with a veiled threat: If Limbaugh did not plead guilty, the state would release his confidential medical records.
''The only conclusion that I can draw is that Mr. Limbaugh ... is being singled out more than anyone else for actions that no one else in this community would be subjected to,'' Black said.
Black and other prominent South Florida attorneys said they couldn't recall another case of plea negotiations released to the public.
''There has to be some thought about the long-term consequence'' of routinely releasing such documents, said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. ``And the long-term consequence in this case is that no one would begin a negotiation about a plea.''
But Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney, said prosecutors were confident they'd done the right thing.
Prosecutors consulted the Attorney General's Office and the Florida Bar in response to the Jan. 15 public records request by the Landmark Legal Foundation, which sought all available documents in the case. They concluded the state public records law required releasing the plea dealings, even though doing so violates ethical rules for lawyers.
''The way the Florida public records law works is, anything that is not specifically exempted under the law is permitted,'' Edmondson said. State law trumps any ethical concerns, he said.
But he offered nothing in writing to back up that account. And Limbaugh's legal team produced documents Monday that seemed to contradict it.
Telephone notes from a Florida Bar attorney, paraphrasing Kirscher himself, state that plea negotiations ``are not normally to be revealed [and] so may or may not be [a] public record.''
Attorney General spokeswoman JoAnn Carrin wouldn't say what legal advice her agency gave the chief Palm Beach County prosecutor, citing the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors began investigating possible prescription-drug abuses by Limbaugh, 53, last year, based on a report from his former maid. Limbaugh has not been charged with any crime.
Limbaugh's attorney accused Edmondson, the state attorney spokesman, of leaking a false story last month that Limbaugh was poised to plead guilty to doctor-shopping. Edmondson denied the assertion.
Doctor-shopping is duping multiple physicians into dispensing excessive prescription medications.
''I can say categorically now that Mr. Limbaugh would not plead guilty to doctor-shopping, and that's because Mr. Limbaugh did not engage in doctor-shopping of any kind,'' Black said.
Of course it's not. I'm sure many of you have taken two aspirin for a headache. So two pills, four times a day (after meals and before bedtime) makes sense for the treatment of pain.
Come on, where is your common sense? The defendant, through his attorney, ALREADY knows what the max is by virtue of the charges against him. He'll laugh along with his attorney if the prosecutor asks him to plea for the same penalty.
It's just a variation of 'if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.' Nothing new about that.
Ok, I see your point, but I think this would be a rare occurance.
I'm sure the colonial Courts of Vice-Admiralty had the same attitude. Look what it got them. :-)
Unethical? By the standards of whom?
I doubt that is the term of art which they use. How is it overreaching if the charge they're asking the perp to plead to is the same as the charge they expect to file? This is a fictional scenario and certainly has no basis in Rush's case, since it seems clear many of the elements of doctor shopping exist.
Name those elements in detail. Provide sources.
This issue is a little bigger than Rush now. Like him or not, the liberals in Florida are playing dirty--and doing it to hurt our side. They're experts at dirty politics.
We had better care.
I agree, but thanks to friends like Landmark, the situation for Rush has escalated. Rush deserves better. And as much as we all love Rush, there is no reason to ignore the rule of law because it suits our side. We won the Florida elections based on that principle and I don't see why we need to compromise that now.
And here's a retort for the less naive around here:
"Everyone breaks the "law" sooner or later, Comrade zek. An enterprising prosecutor can send a message to the stubborn zek through "The Family & Friends Plan". After all, even Dillinger was vulnerable, in the end." ;-)
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