Powered by i.TV
February 11, 2012
 
CONNECT    

Letterman's Blackmailer Out of Jail -- Will He Win an Emmy Now?

by Kim Potts, posted Sep 3rd 2010 2:00PM
Joe HaldermanHe may have a tough time landing a new job -- we'll assume future employment at CBS is a long shot -- but Robert "Joe" Halderman, the former '48 Hours' CBS producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman, has been freed from the hoosegow.

Halderman, 52, had been sentenced to serve six months at Rikers Island jail in New York after admitting to trying to soak 'The Late Show' host for $2 million to keep Letterman's affairs with his staffers a secret. But after serving four months, Halderman was given time off for good behavior and released on Thursday, and will now begin completing 1,000 hours of community service.

And try to get a new job, obviously.

"He survived this, and he's glad to be getting off the island," his attorney, Gerald Shargel, told the Associated Press, while also confirming that Halderman is embarking on a job search.

A plus on his resume: Halderman, along with several co-producers, is a nominee for the Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine award at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards ceremony in New York on Sept. 27. The nomination is for a 2009 '48 Hours Mystery' feature called 'American Girl, Italian Nightmare,' about the Amanda Knox case.

But a potential employment roadblock, of course, is the blackmail rap (officially, his conviction was for attempted grand larceny), in which Halderman was privy to information about Letterman's sexual habits with his 'Late Show' staffers, and used the scoop to try to get money from the talk show host. Halderman, whose ex-girlfriend, Letterman assistant Stephanie Birkitt, was one of the staffers Letterman had an affair with, found out about Letterman's history with his female staffers by reading the diary of his ex.

The fallout of the case resulted in a public scandal in which Letterman admitted, on air, last October, that he'd been involved with some of his employees. He later apologized, also on air, to wife (and mother of his son Harry) Regina and his 'Late Show' staffers for the affairs, and said during an April 2010 appearance on 'Live! With Regis and Kelly' that the whole saga had left him "scared ... depressed and sad."


"And you kind of got to let that knock you down and knock you down, and then pretty soon you've got to start knocking it down. And then, when that happens, you start looking at the pieces left of your life."


In addition to his jail stint and community service, which he will reportedly fulfill by providing job training to people who were homeless and convicts about to be released from jail, Halderman, who's already won several Emmys throughout his three-decade news career, will also be on probation for five years.

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

2 Comments

Filter by:
Harry Rag

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were unanimously found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher because the evidence against them was overwhelming.

They repeatedly told the police a pack of lies in the days after Meredith's murder.

On 5 November 2007, Knox and Sollecito were confronted with proof that they had lied and were given another opportunity to tell the truth. However, they both chose to tell the police even more lies.

Sollecito's new alibi was shattered by computer forensic evidence and his mobile phone records.

Knox accused an innocent man, Diya Lumumba, of murdering Meredith despite knowing full well that he was completely innocent. She didn't recant her false and malicious allegation against Lumumba the whole time he was in prison. She admitted that it was her fault that Lumumba was in prison in an intercepted conversation with her mother.

Knox's account of what happened on 2 November 2007 is contradicted by her mobile phone records.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito both gave multiple conflicting alibis. Neither Knox nor Sollecito have credible alibis for the night of the murder despite three attempt each. At the trial, Sollecito refused to corroborate Knox's alibi that she was at his apartment.

Rudy Guede's bloody footprints led straight out of Meredith's room and out of the house. He didn't lock Meredith's door, remove his trainers, go into Filomena's room or the bathroom that Meredith and Knox shared.

He didn't scale the vertical wall outside Filomena's room or gain access through the window. The break-in was clearly staged. This indicates that somebody who lived at the cottage was trying to deflect attention away from themselves and give the impression that a stranger had broken in and killed Meredith.

Guede had no reason to stage the break-in and there was no physical evidence that he went into Filomena's room.

The scientific police found a mixture of Amanda Knox's DNA and Meredith's blood on the floor.

There was no physical evidence that Rudy Guede went into the blood-spattered bathroom. However, the scientific police found irrefutable proof that Knox and Sollecito tracked Meredith's blood into this bathroom.

Amanda Knox's DNA was found mingled with Meredith's blood in three different places in the bathroom: on the ledge of the basin, on the bidet, and on a box of Q Tips cotton swabs. Knox's DNA and Meredith's blood had united into one single streak on the basin and bidet which means they were deposited simultaneously.

Sollecito left a visible bloody footprint on the blue bathmat.

According to two imprint experts, the woman's bloody shoeprint on the pillow under Meredith's body matched Knox's foot size. The bloody shoeprint was incompatible with Meredith's shoe size.

Knox's and Sollecito's bare bloody footprints were revealed by luminol in the hallway. Knox's DNA and Meredith's DNA was found mixed together in one of the bloody footprints.

An abundant amount of Raffaele Sollecito's DNA was found on Meredith's bra clasp. Sollecito must have applied considerable pressure to the clasp in order to have left so much DNA. The hooks on the clasp were damaged which confirms that Sollecito had gripped them tightly.

Amanda Knox's DNA was found on the handle of the double DNA knife and a number of independent forensic experts - Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni, Dr. Renato Biondo and Professor Francesca Torricelli - categorically stated that Meredith's DNA was on the blade.

Sollecito knew that Meredith's DNA was on the blade which is why he twice lied about accidentally pricking her hand whilst cooking.

The defence experts were unable to prove that there had been any contamination. Alberto Intini, head of the Italian police forensic science unit, pointed out that unless contamination has been proved, it does not exist.

Amanda Knox voluntarily admitted that she involved in Meredith's murder in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November 2007. She stated on at least four separate occasions that she was at the cottage when Meredith was killed.

The English translation of Judge Massei's sentencing report can be downloaded from here:

http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?p=53735

September 03 2010 at 7:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Richard Ott

If Robert Joe Halderman wins an Emmy Award, I can
picture David Letterman eating his microphone, at
least comedicly on his variety talk show. Hopefully,
David won't get a chance to eat it, and Joe will
lose. I still think he deserves a bigger punishment,
should he try to extort David Letterman again.
I'd say a life sentence, and being forced to watch
all 30 years of his Late Night and Late Show from
NBC & CBS respectfully on DVD should be enough.

September 03 2010 at 3:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

From Our Partners