Letterman Blackmailer Heads Back to Court, May Want Trial

With $100K raised for defense, Halderman plea deal looks unlikely
By Will McCahill,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2009 9:41 PM CST
Letterman Blackmailer Heads Back to Court, May Want Trial
Halderman's attorney, Gerald Shargel.   (AP Photo)

The man accused of trying to blackmail David Letterman has raised $100,000 for his defense fund ahead of tomorrow’s first hearing in the case, and some experts think Robert “Joe” Halderman won’t accept a plea bargain despite his reported money woes. “This lawyer is a real litigator,” a Halderman friend tells the New York Observer of Gerald Shargel, “and Joe is paying the full boat to go to trial.”

Adds an NBC analyst: “Don’t expect any grand revelations, but based on the way Shargel has behaved already, I would not be surprised to hear some theatrics from the defense.”
(More Robert Halderman stories.)

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