Limbaugh won't be prosecuted, attorneys wager

PalmBeachPost.com ^ | Saturday, October 4, 2003 | John Pacenti

[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."

[fml]

A little off topic, but doesn't Rush joke the he doesn't actually drive and is driven around? So wouldn't there be a driver to account for these buys.

[Peach]

So you're a regular believer in the National Enquirer and all the crap contained therein, I guess.

Careful, your anti-Americanism is showing. In America we consider individuals innocent until proven guilty.

Rush hasn't even been arrested yet.

[dr_who_2]

What's the PB prosecutor's political affiliation?

[steve50]

Sorry, I didn't save the link. I'm sure every word the man said about the WOD will be out before it's over. I suspect the cases of imprisonment and property forfeiture for equal or lessor offenses will be aired out as well.

[jmstein7]

Ah, so being on the cover of a tabloid paper and a tabloid in connection with flimsy charges is de facto proof of guilt? Gee, I'd better call my crim law professor and let her know.

/sarcasm

Anyone who has already tried, convicted, and sentenced Rush based on such weak, inadmissible, unverifiable, unauthenticated evidence is a real fool.

I haven't seen an iota of proof that this maid didn't make this whole thing up just to make a few HUNDRED GRAND.

I hope Rush sues her, the Enquirer, and the Daily News for libel per se. Since actual malice can be inferred from the wording of the stories, he would probably win (and the defendants could not prove substantial truth because their evidence is inadmissible).

Wilma Cline age 42= William Clinton x42

[Trust but Verify]

To be fair, I think the 'trial lawyers' Rush has condemned are not criminal defense attorneys but the John Edwards type whose product liability lawsuits are bringing commerce in this country no end of grief. I wholeheartedly agree with him.

[jmstein7]

Plus... if she worked for him IN HIS HOUSE, why not just give him the pills AT HOME??? Why the whole elaborate nonsense?

The Enquirer and Al Franken paid her the big bucks to make this up.

[anniegetyourgun]

From Smoking Gun:

OCTOBER 3--Meet Louis Beshara and his wife, Gloria Rodriguez. The Florida couple are at the heart of the drug scandal now enveloping radio superstar Rush Limbaugh. Investigators allege that the duo illegally sold hundreds of thousands of prescription painkillers from a Palm Beach-area pharmacy they owned. According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's search warrant affidavit, Beshara provided Hydrocodone, the powerful and addictive painkiller, to middlemen drug dealers like Joseph Coppola who then resold the pills to users. It has been reported that Limbaugh scored some of the Beshara pills via Wilma Cline, a former maid at the radio star's West Palm Beach mansion. Beshara and Rodriguez, who each face two felony drug trafficking charges, are free on bail, though Beshara is under house arrest. (8 pages)

[jmstein7]

". . .I am sick of pompous asses like Rush who lord their wealth and privilege over everyone and get to play with a different set of rules."

Class warfare, huh? You must be a DU lurker who's not too bright. First, you posted an exculpatory story, but you turn around and claim that it's damning.

So, who do you like? Clark, Dean? They'll redistribute that *earned* wealth (Rush came from *NOTHING*) that you hate so much. . . probably to slimey felons like the Clines. Then you'll just be as happy as a clam in the "Chappaqui-dick" water.

[yukong]

No, that is not the case. I am a former prosecutor and have handled hundreds, if not thousands of drug cases. You don't prosecute people for buying drugs, unless you catch them with the drugs. You can charge them with possession, but you have to catch them possessing them. I would never charge anyone with possession, based only on the testimony of someone that said, "I sold him drugs", without catching that someone with the drugs. The only other possible charge would be "conspiracy to possess drugs", but most conspiracy charges cannot rest solely on the testimony of a co-conspirator (the housekeeper) without some independent corroboration. What, they may not have. And besides, her credibility is shot. She sold the story to tabloids. I would never file on this case either (from what we know). Not on anyone, rich or not. The "average American" you reference, would not be charged with evidence like this either. Possession charges require that you catch the person "possessing" the drugs. We haven't been treated to that evidence yet. I have said from the very beginning, Rush will never be prosecuted. At least, not on what we have read. They don't have anything. What I see here is that this was all just an effort to embarrass and discredit Rush. And if the DA's office was at all involved in the leaking or release of this information, that this is very unethical. To possibly release information, that you know you cannot make a case with, just to discredit someone. Hope that didn't happen.

[anniegetyourgun]

Now, you're not suggesting that there might be folks in PB County government who would find glee in such a 'leak' are you?

[RightOnline]

"Rush has railed against drug users and said that they all should be thrown in jail."

I don't think so, sparky. Have listened to him since he was a local guy in Sacramento; NEVER heard him say anything of the sort. Of course, if you can prove it......................

[enough]

Here's something else fishy. . . .

David Clime gets a legitimate prescription for painkillers for a back injury. Rush finds out. Asks wifeypoo the maid to share a couple of these legtimately attained pain pills. Then, Rush is 'demanding' more from her! (I mean, pills attained per a legitmately script, are finite) Before you know it, she is trafficking over 90,000 pills.

Ole Wilma's job description goes from housecleaner to black market pill pusher lickity split.

This whole scenario doesn't pass the smell test. . .

[Don Munn]

I tired of seeing home pages quoting the bible and then see your postings without any compassion for anyone but your self

[rs79bm]

Gee, you mean a guy that’s worth at least 250 million dollars

Do you mean the drug dealer or Rush. Certainly you wouldn't be bashing Rush. If you are, give me a break. I mean, this is a guy who has gone through the unspeakable in his business, losing his ability to hear.

[steve50]

I don't think so, sparky. Have listened to him since he was a local guy in Sacramento; NEVER heard him say anything of the sort. Of course, if you can prove it...................... "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."

He seems to think he should be in jail for this, if true.

[Becki]

And besides, her credibility is shot. She sold the story to tabloids.

I don't think that her credibility was the point of concern. They never did want to prosecute him. They only wanted to discredit him.

That is most likely why they sat on it for a couple of years. If it had run alone, it would have never have been believed, and would have been relegated to the same pile as the photos of Rush meeting the space aliens.

And that was worth well over the 250,00 she was said to have been paid by the NE. Any one of the Dems would have gladly thrown that amount into the kitty for this.

Becki

[Let's Roll]

Since Rush's father, brother, grandfather etc. are/were all attorneys, I think he knows the difference between lawyers and the kind of lawyers who try to get anyone, guilty of anything, off.

Rush isn't just a celebrity being accused here. He's a celebrity who will have the entire dim party pulling every string they can find to destroy him but I guess he should just trust in the rightness of his cause and not even bother with getting legal representation because of the irony?

[Reagan Renaissance]

Addicts have no problem with denying their drug use or drug problem. They are practiced, skillful and professional performers that can lie very convincingly. They are also skilled and practiced victims that have no problem portraying their victimology for the maxim effect. Rush may well be caught up in a drug investigation and might have obtained some drugs from these people in some misguided fashion that was illegal, but Rush does not portray any signs of a "drug problem" or drug abuse.

Put your money on Rush as having the last word on this subject. I hope the Democratic/Clinton smear machine gets what it has coming to it.

[Damagro]

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?

---

Exactly when was it that Rush was found to be in posession of these drugs? When was he found to be under the influence? This still sounds like a botched extortion attempt to me