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 agree that he is.
Bear in mind that being a patriot and a pill junkie are not incompatible.
Johnny Cash was a great American and a drug addict.
first of all he could get pain meds from a licensed MD with no fear of exposure due to HIPPA laws.
secondly... he could go to a local "Pain Management" center and get all the pain meds he needed without fear due to his health problems.
Thirdly he could take the EIB-1 jet across any border and visit a "Health Spa" and get medications by the ton.
Fourth.... it's just too coincidental that he'd get exposed the day after the ESPN fiasco/bru-ha-ha/lynching, by a democrat DA and two drug dealers trying to cop a plea.
the "maid" could have set him up by e-mailing herself from his house since she had access to the computers in his house and may have had "help" in obtaining passwords if needed.
and finally, why would Rush drive his own car to do a drive by pick up with the risk of traffic arrest, numerous witnesses, and possible set up for robbery or blackmail.
I think this is just a wake up call for Rush who may have let his guard down and not "background" checked his employees. I'd move out and go to Naples or Sarasota, if he wanted to stay in Florida after this mess. I think he's learning that being rich can suck as much as being poor. The only good thing is that he'll see who his "true" friends are and who the ferret face weasels are......
I can't see anything happening to Rush. They would have to have solid evidence on Rush on film plus a confession. Since he doesn't have to give testimony against himself, they can't touch him. If the Florida dept that is supposed to be looking at this really thought they had something solid they would never had gone public. The reason they piled on while Rush was getting negative press was that they had nothing on him they could arrest him for.
Remember, it's the sellers that get arrested and prosecuted not the buyers. And from other threads, the woman that has accused Rush somehow winds up with Al Gore's attorney. Hmmmmm.
"What this says to me," he told his listeners that day, "is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."
From the horses mouth. I guess he feels he should go to jail if this story is true.
Krischer ……..A Brooklyn native, Mr. Krischer earned his juris doctorate in 1968 from Brooklyn Law School and graduated from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1965. Mr. Krischer was an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, Team. Barry Krischer is a member of the New York Bar, Colorado Bar, Palm Beach County Bar Association and of the Florida Bar.
Just remember the shenanigans that came out of this county in the 2000 election. BTW, you wouldn't happen to know of anyone in New York that would want to destroy Rush, do you?
For DemoRATS like you Walking Man, I suppose that the National Enquirer is a very reliable source of information. 90 pills a day. How stupid would anyone have to be to believe that? Anyone that took 90+ Oxycontin pills would be DEAD. Anyone that took half that many in a day would be dead.
And if the allegations are unfounded, or even unprovable, Rush might just be a richer man than he already is. Didn't Gary Condit's wife just win a huge libel suit against the National Enquirer?
I thought she was his MAID. Why wouldn't she just bring them to his HOUSE??
5.56mm
All I've read about this has come from the reliable National Inquirer. I'm not ready to take the Inquirer's print as gospel, so please inform us as to all the facts you can attest to. And yes, I have read TheSmokingGun, no mention of Rush.
I think I'll wait a bit and let ALL the facts become clear, before making a judgement!
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