Unswayed By 'Tiger Woods' Defense, Judge OKs Charges in Letterman Extortion Case
Unpersuaded by a defense argument that a television producer accused of attempting to extort money from David Letterman should be treated just like women who received seven-figure payoffs from golfer Tiger Woods, a New York judge has OK’d the continued prosecution of Robert “Joe” Halderman.
In a bid to get the attempted first-degree grand larceny case against his 52-year-old client dismissed, attorney Gerald Shargel drew the parallel between millions reportedly paid by the world-famous pro golfer to his wife and another woman and Halderman’s unsuccessful effort to collect $2 million from Letterman for a screenplay he authored based on the television talk show host’s messy romantic life, reports the New York Daily News.
In particular, Shargel noted in a Manhattan Supreme Court filing that a woman linked to Woods, Rachel Uchitel, reportedly got $5 million to keep text messages and voice mails from him secret after attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Uchitel, scheduled a press conference. Shargel said Woods also reportedly paid another $5 million to his wife in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement.
“Their behavior was capitalist, not criminal,” wrote Shargel in court papers, noting that “evidence of celebrity misdeeds has a significant fair-market value.” Such information is routinely suppressed in private business arrangements between celebrities and other individuals, he has argued, pointing out that his client insisted on payment by check to document the transaction for tax purposes.
But Justice Charles Solomon saw the situation somewhat differently. Whether Halderman’s approach to Letterman constituted business or blackmail, he held, is a question of fact that the jury must decide, reports the Associated Press.
Shargel also argued unsuccessfully that the criminal statute violated Halderman’s constitutional right to author a book or screenplay about a public figure, reports the New York Post.
“Since the defendant is not being prosecuted for authoring either a book or a screenplay, his constitutional right to free speech is not been impacted,” the judge held.
Prosecutors say Halderman tried to extort money from Letterman to keep quiet about information he learned by reading the diary of a then-girlfriend who worked for Letterman and described her relationship with him, the AP article recounts. Letterman subsequently admitted to viewers during his late-night television program that he had slept with employees.
