Letterman Extortion Suspect Uses Tiger Woods Scandal To Bolster His Defense

By PopEater / Wire Services Posted Dec 30th 2009 07:04AM

The man charged with trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman in exchange for not peddling a screenplay based on the Late Show host's backstage affairs with staffers has offered up a new point of defense -- the alleged hush money Tiger Woods gave to reported mistress Rachel Uchitel. In court papers filed Tuesday, Robert Halderman's lawyer cited published reports that Woods paid an alleged mistress millions of dollars to stay silent. Attorney Gerald Shargel suggested that since the woman hasn't been charged with a crime, Halderman shouldn't be, either.

"Evidence of celebrity misdeeds has a significant fair market value," lawyer Gerald Shargel wrote. "... Evidence of such misdeeds is routinely suppressed through private business arrangement."

Halderman has pleaded not guilty to attempted grand larceny in a case that shoved Letterman's love life into public view. The 'Late Show' host stunned viewers in October by abruptly revealing the extortion case and acknowledging he had had affairs with women on his staff.

Authorities say Halderman demanded $2 million as hush money, threatening to reveal information he'd gleaned from reading in his then-girlfriend's diary that she had had trysts with Letterman, her boss. Halderman's threat was couched as an outline of a thinly veiled screenplay about the comic's life unraveling with the disclosure of his dalliances, prosecutors say.

Shargel says Halderman just offered to sell his "very marketable story" to Letterman - and to keep it confidential as part of the deal.

Prosecutors declined to comment on Halderman's attempt to draw a parallel to the scandal surrounding Woods. The golfer has acknowledged infidelities, without giving specifics, and has not said he paid anyone to keep quiet.

But Letterman's lawyer weighed in, calling the producer's latest argument a bid to shift attention from his own conduct.

"This was not a sale of anything legitimate, this was classic extortion," Letterman lawyer Daniel J. Horwitz said in a statement.

Halderman, 52, is a producer for CBS' "48 Hours Mystery." If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Tags: david letterman, DavidLetterman, robert halderman, RobertHalderman, tiger woods, TigerWoods

Comments

(1)

Wednesday 30 December

By valeskas

Vote down Vote up Report this

Dave Letterman is an old cheater, who can only get women on the job, or maybe someone, who thinks he can help them with their careers. That is the thing with old rich guys, he is probably on Viagra and these women really have to work for it.

Page 1 of 1