- Palm Beach County prosecutors rejected an overture last
month from Rush Limbaugh's attorneys that would have allowed the conservative
commentator to enter drug rehabilitation rather than face criminal charges
for prescription drug abuse.
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- Prosecutors say they think they have evidence that Limbaugh
committed at least 10 felonies by illegally obtaining overlapping drug
prescriptions, according to documents released to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
on Thursday.
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- They offered to end the investigation if Limbaugh pleaded
guilty to a single felony for "doctor shopping" and agreed to
a three-year term of probation, a deal that Limbaugh's Miami attorney Roy
Black called "preposterous" on Thursday.
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- Limbaugh, 53, admitted in October to a prescription drug
addiction as the result of chronic back pain and entered a monthlong treatment
program. He has not been charged with any crimes.
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- Black wrote to Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry
Krischer on Dec. 11, asking whether his office's investigation could be
resolved by having Limbaugh enter an intervention program that allows drug
offenders to seek treatment and not face criminal convictions.
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- James Martz, the prosecutor heading the investigation
into Limbaugh's prescription drug use, responded to Black with a Dec. 15
letter saying such an intervention program was not appropriate. The program
is typically offered to minor, first-time drug offenders.
-
- Martz noted that prosecutors reviewed records from a
pharmacy near Limbaugh's $24 million Palm Beach mansion coupled with records
associated with four search warrants served on Limbaugh's doctors for his
medical records. Martz said those records "indicate evidence that
would support in excess of 10 felony counts for violations" of doctor
shopping, which makes it illegal to obtain prescriptions secretly from
more than one doctor.
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- Martz offered to end the investigation through a plea
agreement. "We believe this case can be settled without a trial,"
he wrote in the Dec. 15 letter.
-
- Prosecutors said Limbaugh would have to admit to doctor
shopping, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Limbaugh would be placed on three years of probation, required to undergo
a treatment program approved by a judge and subjected to random drug tests
during that time.
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- "Mr. Limbaugh would provide community service during
his probationary period in a manner approved by the court," Martz
wrote. "We would suggest that those efforts be utilized to raise public
awareness of the dangers of prescription drug addiction."
-
- And since Limbaugh does not have a criminal record, the
prosecutors' offer would have allowed the judge to withhold a formal finding
of guilt, meaning Limbaugh would not be a convicted felon if he successfully
completed all terms of his probation.
-
- It was unclear Thursday whether the prosecution offer
is still on the table.
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- "This proposed resolution is offered as an alternative
to unsealing your client's medical records and in an effort to bring this
case to a swift and just resolution," Martz wrote.
-
- Prosecutors declined to comment on the letters, which
were released to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in response to a request
under the state's public-records laws. Prosecutors consulted with the Florida
Attorney General's Office and the Florida Bar before determining the letters
are not confidential and had to be released as public records.
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- "My request of Mr. Krischer was for the same treatment
anyone else in this situation would receive. The state's response was preposterous,
and I declined to respond to it," Black said in a statement Thursday.
-
- Black said in his statement that he expected prosecutors
to keep his communications with them private, and he noted that his Dec.
11 letter was marked confidential. Black has been critical of the investigation,
which he has said is politically motivated, and of leaks about the case
to the media.
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- "What is even more troubling is this office's continued
violations of Florida law and Bar ethics," Black said. "The disclosure
of these highly confidential communications violate the Florida statutes,
the rules of procedure and evidence, and the Florida Bar rules. Once again,
because the state has no case against Mr. Limbaugh, they continually seek
to discredit him in the media."
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- In a Dec. 18 letter to Krischer asking for an investigation
into alleged leaks from his office, Black wrote that he had been contacted
by the media the day before and asked whether Limbaugh was pleading guilty
to a felony.
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- "The planting of a story that a suspect, in a highly
publicized investigation, was about to plead guilty clearly interferes
with the investigation and the adjudicative process. No leak could have
more impact than this," Black wrote. "Any person would know that
this type of story would have a major impact with potential jurors and
others."
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- While the exchange between prosecutors and Black was
going on, Black also was fighting to prevent prosecutors from gaining access
to Limbaugh's medical records by arguing they were improperly seized with
search warrants rather than being subpoenaed after giving Limbaugh a chance
to contest the issue in court.
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- The fight over Limbaugh's medical records now is with
the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach.
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- "It is certainly clear by now that Rush Limbaugh
was addicted to prescription pain medication. The latest round of search
warrants seizing Rush's medical records will show that he had serious medical
problems, was prescribed pain medication and took large amounts of it.
He subsequently became addicted to these highly addictive substances,"
Black wrote in his Dec. 11 letter.
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- "He has admitted as much on his radio show. Not
only that, he checked himself into one of the nation's finest drug rehabilitation
centers. He has followed his rehabilitation with almost daily sessions
with his own psychologist following up on the treatment he received at
the center."
-
- Since Limbaugh admitted his problem and sought treatment,
Black wrote that an intervention program would be appropriate because it
would "require him to continue his addiction treatment."
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- Black wrote, "I believe this proposal would be in
keeping with the public interest. The public is better served by treating
addicts as patients rather than criminals."
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- Peter Franceschina can be reached at pfranceschina@ sun-sentinel.com
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- Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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- http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-prush23jan23,0,6767877.story
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