LIMBAUGH, ACLU FILE COURT PAPERS TO KEEP MEDICAL RECORDS PRIVATE

WEST PALM BEACH -- Rush Limbaugh's attorneys accused law enforcement
officers of breaking the law when they seized the conservative radio
commentator's medical records, searching for evidence he illegally bought
prescription painkillers.

Joined by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Limbaugh's
lawyers argued in court documents filed Tuesday that authorities should
have first notified Limbaugh and given him a chance to challenge the
seizure, rather than using search warrants to remove the records from his
doctors' offices.

Limbaugh, his attorneys and the ACLU have argued that the seizure violated
Limbaugh's right to privacy and the confidentiality of the relationship
between patients and doctors. The attorneys want the state 4th District
Court of Appeal to rule that the records should remain sealed.

"What meaning would the patient protections in the Constitution and the law
have if prosecutors could disregard them any time they wanted to?" Limbaugh
attorney Roy Black said in a statement.

Palm Beach prosecutors seized the records in November for their
investigation into whether Limbaugh illegally went "doctor shopping" to
obtain pain pills. The crime refers to visiting several doctors to receive
duplicate prescriptions of controlled narcotics. Limbaugh sought treatment
for his admitted addiction in October and has not been charged with a crime.

Prosecutors had no immediate comment Tuesday but Palm Beach State Attorney
Barry Krischer has repeatedly insisted that investigators have followed the
law and "scrupulously protected" Limbaugh's rights.

A circuit court has kept the records sealed since investigators obtained
the medical records. But prosecutors had a brief opportunity to review the
documents Dec. 22 after Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Winikoff ruled
to unseal the records and before Limbaugh's attorneys won a delay to keep
them sealed.

The investigation is now on hold until the appeals court rules.

Limbaugh told listeners to his afternoon radio show Tuesday that the
investigation "is all political, disguised as a legal case" and that it was
a "search- and-destroy mission."

He accused prosecutors of leaking details about the investigation to plant
"false stories in the press."

"How many of you people think I was drug trafficking? How many of you
people think I was laundering money? Pure leaks," Limbaugh said. "And
there's nothing to it."

Limbaugh kept his comments brief, saying, "It's tough for me to talk about
it. I mean, I can, but it's uncomfortable for me to do so."

Prosecutors have drawn criticism for other actions in the case. Last month,
the state Attorney General's office questioned the motives of Krischer and
his staff after they released letters from Black about negotiating a guilty
plea. Prosecutors cited support from the Attorney General's office and the
Florida Bar, but both groups contradict those claims.

Krischer's office began investigating more than a year ago after his former
maid, Wilma Cline, told them she sold Limbaugh "large quantities of
hydrocodone, Oxycontin and other pharmaceutical drugs" for years. She
provided investigators with e-mails and answering machine recordings to
support her claims.

Investigators then examined records from Palm Beach pharmacies near
Limbaugh's $24 million oceanfront mansion that they say support the
doctor-shopping allegations before seizing the medical records.

In arguing to unseal the records, prosecutor James Martz told a judge in
December that they "are the only way to clarify the violation of law that
we're investigating."