Posted on 01/28/2004 11:12:25 AM PST by george wythe
The state Attorney General's Office rebuked a Palm Beach County prosecutor Wednesday for allegedly misrepresenting conversations between the two agencies to make it appear the AG endorsed releasing sensitive plea-bargain documents about Rush Limbaugh to the public.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer released two pages of plea negotiations with Limbaugh last week in response to a public records request, along with a memo indicating that the agency had been advised by an Attorney General lawyer that the release was required by public-records law.
The documents show the radio talk-show icon proposing to settle allegations of prescription-drug abuse through treatment, potentially avoiding a permanent criminal record.
Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, questioned Krischer's motives and said the release was part of a smear campaign. Prosecutors said they believed they were doing the right thing after consulting the law, the attorney general and the Florida Bar. But there was nothing in writing to support or refute their claim that they were following legal advice from the attorney general.
That changed Wednesday with the release of a letter to Palm Beach County prosecutors from Patricia Gleason, general counsel for the attorney general. The letter lent credence to Limbaugh's claim that the release of the records was improper.
''In this case,'' Gleason wrote, ``... it seems to me that the purpose in contacting me about this issue may not have been to obtain impartial advice on an open government issue, but rather to use a part of our conversation to justify your office's decision that the documents should be released. This is disappointing to me personally and professionally.''
Michael Edmondson, spokesman for Krischer, was not immediately available for comment on the letter.
Prosecutors earlier said Gleason, a public records expert, advised them release of the plea negotiations was required by law because they are not specifically listed as exempt. Government documents are generally considered public unless the law says otherwise.
But other factors -- including ethical rules governing Florida lawyers -- warn against releasing plea documents because doing so could violate the privacy rights of the person proposing a plea in confidence.
While plea negotiations aren't mentioned in the public-records law, a judge ''might refuse to authorize release based on constitutional concerns,'' Gleason wrote. She said she explained this to Ken Selvig, the assistant state attorney who telephoned her earlier this month to discuss the issue.
A subsequent memo and statements from Palm Beach County prosecutors failed to mention that caveat, omitting ''critical parts of our discussion,'' Gleason wrote.
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 law trumped any ethical concerns.
"This letter leaves no doubt that State Attorney Barry Krischer is conducting a deliberate smear campaign in the media in an effort to trash Rush Limbaugh's reputation. The AG's General Counsel Pat Gleason, whom Mr. Krischer's office has publicly described as 'the AG's most knowledgeable person on the Public Records Law,' states in her letter that in trying to justify the release of confidential correspondence in Mr. Limbaugh's case, Mr. Krischer's office publicly misrepresented what she advised by omitting 'critical parts of our discussion.'
"The improper release to the media of confidential correspondence was a grave injustice to my client. But even more grave is the revelation that a memo initialed by Mr. Krischer himself tried to mislead the public about the positions and policies of some of the state's most senior legal officials.
"This sad news comes on the heels of a similar disclosure by the Florida Bar, which contradicted Mr. Krischer's assertion that its Ethics Department had advised him to release the Limbaugh correspondence.
"What more needs to happen before a higher authority decides to investigate the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office for inappropriately conducting what is obviously an orchestrated smear campaign against Rush Limbaugh?"
And I prdict that, before this is all over, Kirscher will be fired, disbarred, prosecuted, and personally bankrupt.
And the county will be out a few million greenbacks as well.
So much for being able to provide touch-screen voting machines for the resident liberal imbeciles (redundant) who haven't the mental capacity to work a ballot card punching device once every four years.
All I can say at this point is simply, Ha! Ha! Ha! And "never bring an empty squirtgun to a gunfight that you start."
Any lurking Dumbs here can freely quote the foregoing -- with or without attribution -- as they eat their hearts out (assuming they have any).....
For some reason, Rush's site is not loading in my computer.
For those of you who don't want to download pdf files, the following is the text from the letter:
Office of the Attorney General
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050
Charlie Christ
Attorney General
State of FloridaJanuary 28, 2004
Mr. Ken Selvig
Assistant State Attorney
401 N Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401-4209
Dear Mr. Selvig:Thank you for your January, 2004, e-mail regarding our earlier conversation concerning the authority of the State Attorney to release letters concerning plea offers in a pending criminal investigation. Your attempt to clarify that the decision to release the letters in question was made by your office is acknowledged. However, I am concerned that your memorandum to the file and the subsequent e-mail summarize only a portion of our conversation and omit critical parts of our discussion.
Specifically, I note that your records of this matter do not reflect that when you telephoned me you indicated it seemed difficult to believe that plea negotiation letters could be releasable prior to the trial. While we both agreed that we were unaware of any applicable statutory exemption, we also discussed the possibility that a court might refuse to authorize release based on constitutional concerns. For this reason, I recommended that in addition to seeking counsel from the Florida Bar as to any ethical concerns about releasing such materials, it was appropriate to notify defense counsel of the public records request and consider whether a judicial resolution was advisable.
Both your file memorandum and e-mail emphasize that you did not tell me who the defendant was in this situation. However, that should not and cannot matter. Over the years, I have had many conversations with assistant state attorneys about pressing public records issues. These conversations have been candid and in my view, have helped the state to resolve public records issues and focus on the upcoming trial. In this case, however, it seems to me that the purpose in contacting me about this issue may not have been to obtain impartial advice on an open government issue, but rather to sue a part of our conversation to justify your office’s decision that the documents should be released. This is disappointing to me personally and professionally.
Sincerely,
Patricia R. Gleason
General Counsel
Go Rush. Give 'em Hell!
IOW: Yer a punk assed low down weasel.
LOS ANGELES, January 28, 2004 – “The Rush Limbaugh Show” increased nine percent in the Arbitron Fall 2003 survey for Persons 12+ when compared to similar data in the Top 10 DMA market grouping during the Arbitron Summer 2003 survey. Within the Top 25 DMA market grouping, the show experienced a three percent increase when compared to similar Persons 12+ data in the Arbitron Summer 2003 survey. When compared to the entire Arbitron Fall 2003 12-week survey, the program experienced only a three percent decrease for Persons 12+ within the Top 25 DMA market grouping during those weeks that Mr. Limbaugh was off the air.
In 18 of the Top 25 DMA markets during the Arbitron Fall 2003 survey, the Rush Limbaugh affiliate was ranked among the top three stations in the market for the show’s time slot. The show ranked first in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Portland. The show ranked second in San Francisco, Tampa, Cleveland, and Indianapolis and ranked third in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Orlando.
Benefiting from the intense loyalty of Mr. Limbaugh’s estimated 20 million weekly listeners, many affiliates enjoyed significant Fall 2003 percentage increases for Persons 12+ and Adults 25-54 average audiences in comparisons to similar Metro Survey data in the Arbitron Summer 2003 survey. The highlights include:
Rush Ratings 2-2-2
Persons 12+
• New York WABC-AM: +8%
• Los Angeles KFI-AM: +14%
• Chicago WLS-AM: +15%
• Boston WRKO-AM: +15%
• Dallas WBAP: +13%
• Washington DC WMAL-AM: +13%
• Detroit WJR-AM: +14%
• Houston KPRC-AM: +23%
• Sacramento KFBK-AM: +16%
Adults 25-54
• New York WABC-AM: +17%
• San Francisco KSFO-AM: +12%
• Washington DC WMAL-AM: +20%
• Detroit WJR-AM: +13%
• Houston KPRC-AM: +39%
• Denver KOA-AM: +13%
• Sacramento KFBK-AM: +27%
• Orlando WFLF-AM: +28%
• Portland KEX-AM: +34%
“The Rush Limbaugh Show” is carried every weekday on nearly 600 radio stations around the country and streamed live on www.rushlimbaugh.com.
Do I wish they would get it right, well yes and no. I may make Rush look bad, but it really makes Mr. Krischer look bad.
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