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Rush Limbaugh: Prosecutors
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When Rush Limbaugh's ex-housekeeper and her husband went to the state attorney's office in late 2002, they talked about Mr. Limbaugh and other matters related to illegal sale of prescription drugs. Those talks led prosecutors to a pharmacy near Lake Worth and to Louis Beshara and his wife, who were arrested last year on drug trafficking charges involving 450,000 painkillers. To make their case, prosecutors obtained a search warrant for the Besharas' home. They found 73,000 pills, $806,000 in cash and records of transactions. The Besharas challenged the legality of the search warrant. In January, a judge ruled that it had been valid.
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Limbaugh was born to Rush Hudson Limbaugh Jr. of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Mildred "Millie" Limbaugh originally from Searcy, Arkansas. His father was a lawyer and a World War II fighter pilot who served in the China-Burma-India theater. The name "Rush" was chosen for his grandfather to honor the maiden name of family member Edna Rush.[2] His family is filled with a number of lawyers including his grandfather, father and his brother David Limbaugh. His uncle, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr. is a Ronald Reagan appointed federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and his cousin, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., is Judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. Rush Limbaugh, Sr., Limbaugh's grandfather, was a Missouri prosecutor, judge, special commissioner and served on Missouri's state House of Representatives from 1930 to 1932.[3] Limbaugh's grandfather was very well respected as one of the "patriarchs" of the Cape Girardeau community. Rush, Sr., passed away at age 104 and was still a practicing attorney at the time of his death.
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The showdown before an appeals court is set for April 7, and prosecutors and Rush Limbaugh made their final filings this week in the battle over the conservative talk show host's medical records. The 4th District Court of Appeal scheduled the oral argument, offering up the standard three-judge panel to hear the case. Lawyers say it's a genuinely novel case of privacy rights -- aside from the novelty of the appellant's name. Both sides will argue why Limbaugh's medical records should either remain sealed or be made available to prosecutors. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office is investigating Limbaugh for doctor shopping, a third-degree felony in Florida (read Palm Beach Post - Susan Spencer-Wendel) (read TC Palm) (read TC Palm 2)
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A subsequent investigation into whether Limbaugh had violated Florida's doctor shopping laws was launched by the Palm Beach State Attorney, which raised privacy issues when investigators seized Limbaugh's private medical records looking for evidence of crimes. On November 9, 2005, following two years of investigations, Assistant State Attorney James L. Martz requested the court to set aside Limbaugh's doctor-patient confidentiality rights and allow the state to question his physicians, stating it was necessary because "I have no idea if Mr. Limbaugh has completed the elements of any offense yet."[85] Limbaugh's attorney opposed the prosecutor's efforts to interview his doctors on the basis of patient privacy rights, and argued that the prosecutor had violated Limbaugh's Fourth Amendment rights by illegally seizing his medical records. The ACLU issued a statement in agreement and filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Limbaugh.[86] [87]On December 12, 2005, Judge David F. Crow delivered a ruling prohibiting the State of Florida from questioning Limbaugh's physicians about "the medical condition of the patient and any information disclosed to the health care practitioner by the patient in the course of the care and treatment of the patient."[88]
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Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist weighed into the controversy surrounding the seizure of Rush Limbaugh's medical records Tuesday by filing a brief with the state Supreme Court supporting the use of search warrants to obtain otherwise private information. But Crist cautioned that prosecutors should not have free rein to seize medical records. A judge should oversee the process and review the records to determine if they are relevant to the investigation and should be turned over to prosecutors, Crist argued (read more - Sun-Sentinel)
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Two months ago, Limbaugh struck a deal with prosecutors on a charge of fraudulently obtaining painkiller prescriptions. The case was to be dismissed in 18 months if he continued drug treatment and exhibited "model-citizen behavior," he told listeners.
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