Posted on 10/04/2003 1:42:29 AM PDT by Walkin Man
Saturday, October 4
Limbaugh won't be prosecuted, attorneys wager
By John Pacenti, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 4, 2003
WEST PALM BEACH -- Rush Limbaugh's alleged addiction to painkillers may be documented in e-mails.
His reported drug deals may have been taped by his former housekeeper.
And the talkative maid and her handyman husband could even be willing to testify against the conservative talk-show host. They sure were willing to spill everything to a supermarket tabloid.
But the chance of criminal charges ever being filed against Limbaugh is next to nil, say criminal defense attorneys who have handled numerous drug cases.
And some local lawyers say they are hearing from sources within State Attorney Barry Krischer's office that Limbaugh -- who lives in a $24 million mansion on Palm Beach -- will indeed not be charged.
Sources also said Limbaugh won't even be questioned by law enforcement officials, unless the commentator chooses to cooperate on his own.
Roy Black is the Miami powerhouse attorney Limbaugh has reportedly hired to represent him. But Black, who has represented such celebrities as Marv Albert and William Kennedy Smith, won't return calls to confirm he has been retained. And Limbaugh said on his radio show Friday he wasn't at liberty to address the allegations.
James Martz, the prosecutor who heads up a task force on money-laundering, said he is more interested in finding the heads of such distribution cells as opposed to prosecuting low-level drug users -- whether they are celebrities or not.
Plus, to prosecute drug abusers, authorities need to catch them in possession of the illegal substance, he said. "Shy of that, we have very little leverage in the state system," Martz said.
What it all comes down to, attorneys say, is that the court of public opinion is a far cry from the court of law.
"I think that the state better have a heck of a lot more than what I'm seeing, hearing and reading right now," attorney Michael Salnick said. "First of all you have a major credibility issue with these witnesses. The credibility issue starts with the fact they sold their story to The National Enquirer."
The former maid, Wilma Cline, and her husband, David Cline, told The Enquirer for its latest edition that Limbaugh bulldogged them into supplying him with thousands of painkillers between 1998 and 2002. They said Limbaugh took hydrocodone, Lorcet and OxyContin.
The story came out on the heels of Limbaugh resigning from his job as an ESPN sports analyst after he said Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted a black quarterback to succeed.
Maid said she taped transactions
It is unknown if the timing was coincidental, but The Enquirer's story is full of juicy details. According to the piece, it all started when Limbaugh asked for some extra pain pills from David Cline's legitimate prescription for a back injury.
Soon, Limbaugh demanded that they continue to supply him with pills when the prescription ran out. That's when Wilma Cline started keeping a log of her deliveries and preserved desperate e-mails from Limbaugh in which he referred to pills as "small blue babies."
Wilma Cline said she would meet Limbaugh in parking lots, passing a cigar box filled with pills through his Mercedes' window.
During her two last drug deliveries, Wilma Cline told The Enquirer, she secretly audiotaped the transactions.
Late last year, the Clines went to prosectors, who gave them immunity. Sources say the couple helped prosecutors in their investigation into tracking some 450,000 pills of hydrocodone back to the source.
Authorities believe some of Limbaugh's supply was dispensed from a small suburban Lake Worth pharmacy, World Health Association. The couple that ran the operation, Gloria and Louis Beshara, were arrested in May, seven months after the Clines came forward. The Besharas currently face trafficking charges.
Also, what could undermine the Clines' credibility is that David Cline has a criminal history.
He was arrested in 1982 in Collier County for cocaine trafficking, serving five years in prison. In 2000, he was arrested on charges of identity theft -- using the name George Earl Taylor -- of possessing a fake driver license and fake vehicle registration, as well as possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. He served 18 months probation.
It is unknown if the couple received full immunity from prosecutors for information they gave about how they provided pills for Limbaugh.
If Wilma Cline did tape Limbaugh without his knowledge, that is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, attorneys say.
Plus, Martz said such tapings can't even be heard by prosecutors. As for e-mail evidence, Martz said any such evidence is problematic because there is trouble verifying who sent the e-mail.
So where does this leave Limbaugh's criminal liability?
"I think it's legal suicide to go after a guy like Limbaugh with evidence as flimsy as this," Salnick said.
Two former prosecutors, now in private practice, agree.
Robert Gershman said most of the time, users are prosecuted only for possession. He said the Clines probably wouldn't have even gotten in the door of the state attorney's office if they weren't outing a celebrity.
Marc Shiner said the celebrity issue taints the case. "Why would drug dealers turn in their client unless they are trying to save their own neck -- or trying to make a couple hundred thousand dollars peddling their story to the tabloids?" he asked.
"If I was Roy Black, I'd be sitting on the beach right now sipping a pina colada or watching a Marlins game and not worrying too much about Rush Limbaugh's criminal liability right now."
Rush has had zero tolerance for drug abusers in the past and has excoriated trial lawyers as well.
Now he retains them to defend himself against drug charges!
You don't see the irony in that, not to mention the hypocrisy?
Rush has been very careful not to deny these charges too so that makes me think there is something to them, not just the story from the maid.
There are more important matters at hand like the French made missiles located in Iraq (A HREF="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/994679/posts">Polish troops find new French missiles in Iraq") and there is this story that has run under several headlines: BREAKING?: 60 Million In Biological Warheads, Chemical Arms en Route to Europe Snagged
Keep on your little drug war rant. Light up your spliff and feel "relevant".
Hmmmm....who else would he retain? The milkman? A supermodel with braces? Or maybe a put a monkey in a suit and give him a cute little briefcase...
Of course he's going to hire the best lawyer around for defending a high-profile media circus case. But then, he could always try to defend himself - but that might be arrogant.
I agree, the claims are purely made up. Rush is not saying any thing right now. He is waiting to see what the National Enquirer is going to publish about him.
If, they publish what this Wilma Cline has said, Rush will own the Enquirer when this is over.
It can all be traced back to the DNC. Clinton.
He has had numerous chances to deny them yet he has not. Not the actions of an innocent man. If I was accused of this and it was untrue I'd certainly deny it.
Mr. Limbaugh is not under arrest but what he says (and is recorded/transcribed) could be used against him in a court of law. Art Bell dropped off the airwaves when he fought phoney charges. It is always best to remain silent on pending legal matters and let an attorney speak for you.
She says she supplied 11,900 pills in 6 months...that's 66 narcotic mind numbing pills per day....The more details we get the more this story stinks to high heaven.
The story has already been published. Newspapers across the country are quoting from it. It's been on the network news and cable TV has been screaming about it. How much worse could it get?
If, they publish what this Wilma Cline has said, Rush will own the Enquirer when this is over.
It's already been published. However, with a public figure like Rush to win a libel suit, there's a very high threshold to surmount. And the National Enquirer would delight in deposing Rush and publishing quotes from the depositions in their rag.
A defense attorney is a trial lawyer, by definition.
Well observed.
She says she supplied 11,900 pills in 6 months...that's 66 narcotic mind numbing pills per day....
Not fishy. He could have been laying in a supply.
No you wouldn't. Not if you had a competant attorney.
Ah nolds ALLEGED groping happened years ago. The Enquirer had the story on Rush two years ago (and I'm sure the Clines would have been paid then), and the "supposed" explosive article on Wilson was in July.
It sure dampened the Kay news and any comments on the President. And anyone that thinks that the UN Policy ended Saddam's efforts at WMD is an idiot. It is what he does and a master of deceit. The entire world gives him credit for that.
The Dems are busy!!
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