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   From: FlyC750s@loveUSA.edu   
      
         Limbaugh's pill use not extraordinary, lawyer says   
         BY DANIEL de VISE   
         ddevise@herald.com   
      
         Rush Limbaugh's attorney mounted an offensive Monday, accusing Palm   
   Beach County prosecutors of smear tactics and likening his client to any   
   ordinary American with chronic pain.   
      
         ''This nation is full of people who take medication every day and will   
   do so for the rest of their lives,'' said Roy Black, speaking in a news   
   conference in Miami.   
      
         Discussing the prescription-drug abuse allegations in unprecedented   
   detail, Black reasoned that the quantity of medicine Limbaugh is accused of   
   ingesting -- 1,800 pills in 210 days -- works out to roughly 8.5 pills a   
   day, ``certainly not an outrageous amount.''   
      
         Black questioned the motives of Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry   
   Krischer in releasing details last week of sensitive plea negotiations   
   between Limbaugh and prosecutors.   
      
         The December correspondence, unflattering to Limbaugh, shows the radio   
   talk-show host proposing to settle the case through treatment, potentially   
   averting a permanent criminal record. Prosecutors counter: Plead guilty to a   
   single felony charge of ''doctor shopping'' and avoid prison time. Both   
   offers were rejected.   
      
         Black said the plea negotiations shouldn't have been released. He   
   portrayed the incident as part of a politically motivated campaign to   
   discredit his client.   
      
         Black said the government's plea offer came with a veiled threat: If   
   Limbaugh did not plead guilty, the state would release his confidential   
   medical records.   
      
         ''The only conclusion that I can draw is that Mr. Limbaugh ... is   
   being singled out more than anyone else for actions that no one else in this   
   community would be subjected to,'' Black said.   
      
         Black and other prominent South Florida attorneys said they couldn't   
   recall another case of plea negotiations released to the public.   
      
         ''There has to be some thought about the long-term consequence'' of   
   routinely releasing such documents, said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at   
   Nova Southeastern University. ``And the long-term consequence in this case   
   is that no one would begin a negotiation about a plea.''   
      
         But Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County state   
   attorney, said prosecutors were confident they'd done the right thing.   
      
         Prosecutors consulted the Attorney General's Office and the Florida   
   Bar in response to the Jan. 15 public records request by the Landmark Legal   
   Foundation, which sought all available documents in the case. They concluded   
   the state public records law required releasing the plea dealings, even   
   though doing so violates ethical rules for lawyers.   
      
         ''The way the Florida public records law works is, anything that is   
   not specifically exempted under the law is permitted,'' Edmondson said.   
   State law trumps any ethical concerns, he said.   
      
         But he offered nothing in writing to back up that account. And   
   Limbaugh's legal team produced documents Monday that seemed to contradict   
   it.   
      
         Telephone notes from a Florida Bar attorney, paraphrasing Kirscher   
   himself, state that plea negotiations ``are not normally to be revealed   
   [and] so may or may not be [a] public record.''   
      
         Attorney General spokeswoman JoAnn Carrin wouldn't say what legal   
   advice her agency gave the chief Palm Beach County prosecutor, citing the   
   ongoing investigation.   
      
         Prosecutors began investigating possible prescription-drug abuses by   
   Limbaugh, 53, last year, based on a report from his former maid. Limbaugh   
   has not been charged with any crime.   
      
         Limbaugh's attorney accused Edmondson, the state attorney spokesman,   
   of leaking a false story last month that Limbaugh was poised to plead guilty   
   to doctor-shopping. Edmondson denied the assertion.   
      
         Doctor-shopping is duping multiple physicians into dispensing   
   excessive prescription medications.   
      
         ''I can say categorically now that Mr. Limbaugh would not plead guilty   
   to doctor-shopping, and that's because Mr. Limbaugh did not engage in   
   doctor-shopping of any kind,'' Black said.   
      
      
      
      
      
   --   
   Left-wing liberals are EVERYTHING they accuse the right of being.   
   They are mean, vicious, hateful, greedy, cold-hearted, closed-minded,   
   selfish, intolerant, bigoted and racist.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)