Letterman Extortion Case: Joe Halderman Cites Tiger Woods Scandal

By Kamika Dunlap on January 06, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

As the David Letterman extortion case goes forward, TV producer Robert "Joe" Halderman who is accused of grand larceny has drawn on the Tiger Woods sex scandal to try bolster his defense.

According to the Associated Press, the attorney representing Joe Halderman is looking to draw a parallel to the Tiger Woods scandal. Halderman is accused of shaking down $2 million from David Letterman in an extortion scheme.

Attorney Gerald Shargel suggested that his client Robert "Joe" Halderman shouldn't be charged with a crime. According to court papers, his lawyer cited published reports that Woods paid an alleged mistress millions of dollars to stay silent and that she wasn't charged with a crime.

"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."

As previously discussed, Joe Halderman tried to extort Letterman over three weeks, starting September 9, 2009 and ending September 30, 2009.

Joe Halderman pleaded not guilty to attempted grand larceny in a case that revealed Letterman's love life to the public. The "Late Show" disclosed the extortion case to viewers and acknowledging he had affairs with women on his staff.

Authorities said Halderman demanded $2 million in the extortion case, threatening to reveal information he learned from reading in his then-girlfriend's diary that she was involved with Letterman, her boss.

Letterman's attorney, however, say the latest argument is an attempt to shift attention from the producer's own conduct.

Joe Halderman, is an Emmy-nominated news producer, worked on a variety of legal stories for CBS: Madeleine 'Maddie' McCann's disappearance, Italy's murder case against American foreign exchange student Amanda Knox.

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