Letterman plot suspect asks court to drop case [View All]

[DearAbby]

NEW YORK - A TV news producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman in exchange for keeping quiet about his sexual affairs was only trying to sell the late-night comic a screenplay, a defense lawyer said Tuesday.

Robert J. “Joe” Halderman’s lawyer asked a judge to toss the attempted first-degree grand larceny case, saying the producer did nothing illegal in slipping Letterman documents alluding to the “Late Show” host’s dalliances and taking a $2 million check from Letterman’s lawyer.

“There was no extortion. There was a screenplay for sale,” the lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said outside court. “There was a commercial transaction. Nothing more.”

But a lawyer for Letterman said the exchange was a shakedown, not a sale.

“It’s classic blackmail, no matter how Mr. Halderman’s lawyer wants to dress it up,” Daniel J. Horwitz said outside court.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33819206/ns/entertainment-television/