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."
I'm shocked!
/sarcasm
The claims against Limbaugh are bogus
He's a great American
.
Did you sign up during impeachment to boost your boy?
Do you honestly believe that the maid is correct in saying that Rush was taking 90 pills a day???
She and her husband could probably have used the money from trafficking drugs (until they got caught). She sold her story for 6 figures and reportedly has been given "immunity" from prosecution. Seems like an easy way out of conviction (and a nice bankroll to boot).
My second query, is WHY are you engaging in class warfare kind of posts?
I see.
So according to the Palm Beach prosecutor, its safe and acceptable for all dope addicts to come to Palm Beach and shoot / snort and smoke crack, right?
Or does that "rule" only apply to multi-millionaire junkies that live in 24 million dollar mansions???
You can buy anything in America, just ask OJ Simpson or Rush Limbaugh...
Let's give the DA a little credit here, this story right now has a couple holes big enough you can drive a truck though.
Just maybe, there's not a whole lot more here than Rush buying some pills off his employee's.
The DA in Palm Beach does not have the same motivation as Matt Drudge.
You know, I've seen some of your posts in the past. They were good. But this trash that you're peddling, these empty allegations, I must say, are far beneath you. You somehow seem to believe the National Enquirer and a couple of known felons, instead of using even a modicum of common sense...
I expect better from your posts.
Trolling ?
When did this board become a Rush Limbaugh Worship Center? He was on the cover of USA Today and many other papers and news outlets but we are to remain silent here?
Rush has railed against drug users and said that they all should be thrown in jail. He has railed against trail lawyers as well. Now he has hired a famous trail lawyer to defend himself against drug abuse charges.
You see nothing to talk about, I see rank hypocrisy from the man with "talent on loan from God."
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.
There is not a credible witness. Druggies make false accusations all the time and it usually falls into the catagory of , "everyone else is doing it." Cops and prosecutors get burned all the time when they rely on these types of winesses, and most of them, repeat most of them, know better.
Make sure it is as airtight as you imply.
"Cline told authorities that some of the drug handoffs took place at a gas station in West Palm Beach, Fla. Limbaugh allegedly would pull up in his car and Cline would hand over a cigar box full of pills in exchange for cash, sources told Fox News."
This just seems too far fetched to me - scratch that - completely unbelievable. The kind of tripe that the Enquirer loves to smell up the supermarkets.
I just can't see Rush doing something like this - a sleazy drive by deal. IF he had a problem with a prescription painkiller, he'd surf doctors until he found one that was free with his scripts. Even then, I wouldn't believe it until Rush said it himself.
I don't " worship " Rush; I don't even like his radio show.
He's " railed aginst trial lawyers ", when they have engaged in ridiculous efforts. He has been accused PUBLICLY, of doing something or things criminal and it would be more than stupid, to NOT hire a lawyer and the best one money can buy. Because he is wealthy, do you want him to NOT have the same recourse, that everyone else, rich or poor has; i.e. a lawyer ?
He is INNOCENT, until proven guilty in a court of law. The very barest of bones of this thing have been laid out to the public; yet YOU have decided that he's not only guilty, but a hypocrite to boot. That isn't discussing something in the news. That is blindly biased posts, written by someone with more than a few axes to grind.
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