Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/rush+limbaugh

LIMBAUGH'S ATTORNEY LAMBASTES PROSECUTORS OVER RELEASE OF LETTERS

MIAMI - Rush Limbaugh's attorney said Monday the conservative radio
commentator didn't take an inordinate amount of painkillers and that
it wasn't unusual that he sought treatment from several doctors for
different problems.

Attorney Roy Black also denounced Palm Beach County prosecutors for
releasing what he called confidential letters relating to their
investigation into Limbaugh's prescription drug use.

Prosecutors say they were following the law and the advice of the
state Attorney General's Office and The Florida Bar in releasing
letters between their office and Black, which outlined proposals from
both sides last month that would have ended the investigation. The
letters were released last week in response to requests under the
state's public-records law.

Limbaugh, 53, has not been charged with any crimes. The investigation
began in December 2002 after Limbaugh's former housekeeper told
prosecutors she had sold him large quantities of prescription drugs,
court records show.

Black released a set of notes taken by Bar ethics counsel Barbara B.
Moore of a conversation she had with Palm Beach County State Attorney
Barry Krischer. Moore noted that Krischer related that the Attorney
General's Office said the letters between his office and Black were
public, except for the possibility of two letters "which include plea
negotiations, which are not normally to be revealed so may or may not
be public record."

Moore's notes reflect she told Krischer his office must determine if
those two letters are public and could ask a judge if there was a question.

Krischer spokesman Michael Edmondson said the letters were not
confidential as attorney-client privilege. "This was a public
document," he said.

Black said prosecutors could have asked a judge. "They never gave us a
chance to have any input in the matter," he said.

In a Dec. 11 letter, Black wrote that Limbaugh would be willing to
enter a drug-intervention program if the investigation was closed
without criminal charges.

Prosecutors responded Dec. 15, saying they thought they have evidence
Limbaugh committed at least 10 felonies for prescription fraud and
offered to let Limbaugh plead guilty to one count and be placed on
three years of probation.

Black said Edmondson falsely leaked information that Limbaugh was
seeking a plea agreement. Edmondson said he has acted appropriately in
responding to media inquiries.

"Mr. Limbaugh would not plead guilty to doctor shopping, the alleged
offense, because he did not commit any doctor shopping," Black said.

The search warrants prosecutors used to seize Limbaugh's medical
records late last year detail pharmacy records showing Limbaugh was
prescribed 1,733 hydrocodone pills, 90 OxyContin pills and 40 pills of
time-release morphine from last March to September. Black said that
worked out to roughly 8.5 pills a day, "not an outrageous amount" for
someone suffering from chronic, debilitating pain.