Krischer: Limbaugh probe hurt by state
By John Pacenti, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 30, 2004
WEST PALM BEACH -- State Attorney Barry Krischer on Thursday accused Attorney General Charlie Crist's office of trying to impede the Rush Limbaugh prescription fraud investigation for political reasons.
Krischer expected Crist's office to file the state's response to Limbaugh's appeal of a decision to unseal the commentator's medical records in the prescription fraud case. Crist's office pulled out of the appeal one hour before a Jan. 12 deadline imposed by the appeals court, said Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for Krischer's office.
"We obviously think that was to put us into a position so we could not respond," Edmondson said. A prosecutor from Krischer's office was able to file the brief in time.
Joanne Carrin, spokeswoman for Crist, said the attorney general's office is not involved in the Limbaugh case. "We don't know what he is talking about," Carrin said. "It sounds ridiculous."
The accusation came a day after Crist's office criticized Krischer for mischaracterizing advice it gave prosecutors last week regarding the release of plea negotiations in the Limbaugh case.
Edmondson called the letter from Assistant Attorney General Patricia Gleason "political."
Krischer is a Democrat, Crist a Republican and Limbaugh a conservative icon for his radio shows.
Carrin couldn't say for sure if the attorney general's office pulled out of writing the brief an hour before deadline, but she said the office never represents state attorneys in civil appellate matters. Limbaugh has yet to be charged criminally, and the motion to keep his medical records sealed was filed in civil court.
"It's not the type of appeal we would be involved in," Carrin said. "Regardless, if we offered any assistance or not, they filed a response. We did not impede anything."
Assistant State Attorney James Martz ended up writing the appellate brief so the office could make the deadline.
The investigation, meanwhile, remains static as the 4th District Court of Appeal wrestles with whether to give prosecutors access to Limbaugh's medical records.
Limbaugh, 53, came to prosecutors' attention when his former maid told them she had provided thousands of illegal pain pills to him. He is now under investigation for "doctor shopping" after records from a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion revealed he received more than 2,000 pain pills over five months.
Doctor shopping, a rarely charged felony punishable by up to five years in prison, is when a patient dupes two or more physicians into prescribing overlapping medications.
Limbaugh told listeners in October he was addicted to painkillers and entered a five-week drug rehabilitation program. His attorney has said the prescriptions were for intense back and ear pain.
Much of the news in the case surrounds Krischer's office's release last week of letters from mid-December discussing plea negotiations in the case. In the letters, Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, offered to settle the case if his client could enter a pretrial intervention program, which would entail a not-guilty plea. Krischer's office said Limbaugh could receive probation but only if he pleaded guilty to doctor shopping, an offer Limbaugh rejected.
Black has said releasing the letters was illegal and unethical and is evidence of a media smear campaign against Limbaugh.
"It appears as if Mr. Krischer is trying to shift the focus from his own actions," Black said Thursday.
In releasing the letters, Krischer's office provided a memo in which Assistant State Attorney Ken Selvig detailed how Gleason, a public records expert at the attorney general's office, informed him there was no exemption for plea negotiations under public records law. Krischer also called the Florida Bar, which Selvig said informed the office it would be unethical to not release the letters.
Wednesday, Crist's office and the Bar said Krischer's office misrepresented their advice.
Black on Thursday again called for the "appropriate authorities" to investigate Krischer for planting false stories in the press.
"The fact is, Mr. Krischer tried to mislead the public regarding the advice his office received from the Florida Bar and the attorney general's office, both of which have made it clear that he misrepresented what they said," Black said.
john_pacenti@pbpost.com
