Limbaugh lawyer denies any talk of plea deal
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Rush Limbaugh
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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh's lawyer said Monday there was never any offer by his client to make a plea deal with the state attorney's office investigating Limbaugh on charges of "doctor shopping."
Attorney Roy Black was referring to letters he wrote to the Palm Beach County state attorney's office in December, which he claims were wrongly released by that office and incorrectly portrayed as plea deal offers. (Full story)
"This was not a plea negotiation. I did not offer a plea of guilty, and in fact later we rejected any plea of guilty," Black told reporters.
Black said Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer had assured him in their first meeting that "his office did not prosecute addicts or people who become dependent on prescription medication, that that was not the purpose of this particular matter."
Based on that assurance, Black said, he wrote to Krischer to suggest the investigation be resolved through a referral to a pretrial diversion program, including rehabilitation and counseling for Limbaugh, who has admitted his addiction to prescription painkillers and completed one rehab program.
"That is the normal resolution of cases like this, and it seems to be the normal resolution in every case except for that of Rush Limbaugh," the attorney said Monday.
In reply, James Martz, the prosecutor leading the investigation, wrote that an intervention program was not appropriate, given that the program is typically offered to minor, first-time drug offenders.
Martz said records collected in the case "indicate evidence that would support in excess of 10 felony counts for violations," involving multiple prescriptions from different doctors.
Doctor shopping -- in which a person gets multiple prescriptions for the same or similar medication from different doctors over the same time period -- is a felony in Florida, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Black said the state attorney's office also suggested that Limbaugh would have to plead guilty or prosecutors would unseal medical records it had seized as part of its investigation.
"Of course we had absolutely no intention of pleading guilty to any crime, and I can state categorically now that Mr. Limbaugh would not plead guilty to doctor shopping, the alleged charges here, because he did not in fact commit any crime of doctor shopping," Black said.
Limbaugh's attorneys also are appealing the seizure of his medical records by the state attorney's office last month through search warrants.
Limbaugh has argued that the records were seized illegally in violation of his constitutional right to privacy.
"Mr. Limbaugh, because of who is he and ... the opinions that he expresses, is being singled out more than anyone else for actions that no other person in this community would be subjected to," Black said.
"Mr. Limbaugh went to these doctors for legitimate medical reasons and was given prescriptions for them."
Black also disputed prosecution claims that Limbaugh received more than 2,000 pills in about 180 days. Black said the records in question show Limbaugh received about 1,800 pills over a period of 210 days, which averages out to eight 1/2 pills per day. He said his client was taking them for pain and other problems that couldn't be corrected by surgery.
The attorney accused the Palm Beach County state attorney's office of improperly leaking what he called a "false story" about a supposed plea deal and called for an investigation of state attorney spokesman Mike Edmondson.
Black said claims that his letters -- which were published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper last week -- were released under a public records request was not completely true.
At the news conference, Black read from call records that described a conversation between the state attorney's office and the Florida bar. The state attorney's office used that conversation to release the letters per the public information request, Black said, when in fact the bar told the office it may need to consult with a judge to determine if the correspondence should be released.
