FLORIDA SUPREME COURT REJECTS LIMBAUGH APPEAL

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied an
appeal from Rush Limbaugh, removing a hurdle for Palm Beach County
prosecutors to use the conservative talk show host's medical records as
they investigate his prescription drug use.

The court, in a 4-3 decision, declined to review the case, letting stand a
lower court ruling that the medical records were seized legally. The
two-paragraph decision denied a rehearing, leaving Limbaugh with few if any
options for appeal.

Prosecutors used search warrants to seize Limbaugh's medical records in
2003 as they probed whether he "doctor shopped," illegally visiting
multiple doctors to receive duplicate prescriptions. Limbaugh has not been
charged with a crime.

His attorney, Roy Black, had argued the seizure violated state law and
infringed on Limbaugh's privacy rights. Black released a written statement
Thursday that did not address legal options after the ruling.

"I have said from the start that there was no violation of the doctor
shopping statute, but that Rush Limbaugh should not have to give up his
right to privacy in order to prove his innocence," Black said in the
statement. "Mr. Limbaugh appropriately sought treatment for severe back
pain and for pain from an operation to restore his hearing. He has not been
charged with a crime, and he should not be charged."

A call to Black's Miami law firm was referred to a public relations firm. A
spokesman for the firm declined to comment beyond the written statement.

A Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office spokesman also declined to
comment on Thursday's ruling, calling the case "an ongoing criminal
investigation." Prosecutors have said in court filings the investigation
was stymied until they gain access to the medical records.

Limbaugh was not on the radio airwaves Thursday. A statement posted
Wednesday on his Web site read: "I'm not going to be here tomorrow, folks.
I gotta go back out to the ear doctor out there on the left coast." The
statement indicated he was to resume his program Friday.

The legal battle over the 54-year-old Palm Beach resident's medical records
flourished shortly after prosecutors used a search warrant to seize the
documents in November 2003 from doctors in Florida and California.

Records from one pharmacy near Limbaugh's Palm Beach mansion show that
during a six-month period in 2003, the talk-show host picked up hundreds of
addictive painkiller pills prescribed to him by four doctors, court
documents state.

The medical records have remained sealed since they were seized, with the
exception of a one-day window where prosecutors reviewed them before Black
filed his first appeal in December 2003.

Black argued that state law required prosecutors to notify Limbaugh that
they intended to obtain his medical records. That would have given Limbaugh
a chance to contest the move in court, where a judge would have to decide
whether prosecutors could then issue subpoenas for the records.

That requirement would hamstring law enforcement, Palm Beach County
Assistant State Attorney James Martz argued in a brief to the state Supreme
Court, saying: "Law enforcement must be free to use the tools provided in
law to investigate those who would disregard the law in favor of their own
illicit purposes."

Prosecutors say they reviewed Florida case law and determined they could
seize the records with search warrants without notifying Limbaugh.

A circuit court judge and the 4th District Court of Appeal sided with
prosecutors.

"The law is clear," said West Palm Beach defense attorney Robert Gershman.
"Obviously the Supreme Court thought so; they didn't want to review it, no
matter who the person was."

The appeals court suggested Black could protect his client's privacy by
asking the judge who issued the search warrants to review the records for
relevancy and shield documents from disclosure outside the investigation.

Gershman, who is not affiliated with the case, said Thursday's decision
indicated the high court was not influenced by personality or politics.

"They're looking at the law in the case," Gershman said. "That's positive
for any other individual or no-name person in the county or the state, no
matter the outcome."

The ACLU filed legal briefs in support of Limbaugh's position, making odd
allies in a case that saw Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist give tepid
support for Palm Beach County prosecutors in a brief filed with the Supreme
Court. Limbaugh refers to the ACLU derisively, usually as a champion of
liberal causes, during his radio programs.

Thursday's ruling left open a narrow option for an appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court, legal analysts said.

To do so, Limbaugh would have to demonstrate the case held a federal legal
issue, such as violation of his constitutional rights, University of
Florida law professor Joseph Little said.

"My speculation would be that the (U.S. Supreme) Court would not accept
it," Little said. "This case is just a search and seizure case. There are
thousands of search and seizure cases around the country at any one time.
.. The fact that makes it newsworthy is that this is Rush Limbaugh. You
take that aside and this is not an unusual case."