Updated 11:48 AM ET May 21, 2000
New ruling could mean end of Tripp case - analysts
By David Morgan
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Ten months after Linda
Tripp was indicted in Maryland for making the secret
tape-recordings that led to President Clinton's
impeachment, a judge Monday could set the stage for
prosecutors to drop the case, analysts say.
Howard County Circuit Judge Diane Leasure, who has
presided over a series of complex pretrial proceedings,
was expected to give her final word on whether former
White House intern Monica Lewinsky can provide vital
testimony when Tripp goes to trial for alleged wiretap
violations later this year.
Tripp, the only major figure in the White House
sex-and-perjury scandal to face criminal prosecution,
recorded hours of conversations with Lewinsky in late
1997 and handed the tapes over to independent counsel
Kenneth Starr.
Last July, a state grand jury named her in a two-count
indictment for allegedly recording a conversation on
Dec. 22, 1997, without Lewinsky's permission and
sharing its contents with Newsweek magazine.
To get a conviction, which could land Tripp in jail for
10 years, Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen
Montanarelli needs Lewinsky to identify the date on
which the tape was made. Otherwise, he may not be
able to prove a crucial element of the case -- that Tripp
knew she was breaking the law when she made the
recording.
In a key ruling on May 5, Judge Leasure said Lewinsky
could testify on the question of whether Tripp had her
permission to make the recording. But the former intern
was not credible on any other topic, including the tape's
date, because her memory was tainted by contact with
evidence Tripp provided Starr under a grant of federal
immunity, the judge said.
Since then, prosecutors have come under pressure to
bow out of the case, with a chorus of local newspapers
saying that to continue in a climate of legal uncertainty
would waste taxpayers' money and risk the appearance
of a political vendetta.
"They could struggle to find other proof that might be
admissible. The better course is to drop the charges and
go home," The Washington Post said in just such an
editorial.
In a bid to get the case on track, Montanarelli filed a
motion a week ago asking Leasure to clarify her ruling.
The motion suggested Lewinsky should be able to
identify the December tape in order to say whether
Tripp had her consent to make it. "It is essential to the
state's case," Montanarelli wrote.
"If the judge denies their motion, Montanarelli might
very well use that as a gracious way to get out," said
University of Maryland Law School professor Abe
Dash. "He can say he's done everything he could but he
doesn't feel it would be fair to go ahead because he's
not sure he can prove his case."
Montanarelli, Maryland's special independent
prosecutor, got the case in early 1998 after Democrats
inundated the local Republican district attorney's office
with demands that Tripp be prosecuted for allegedly
taping conversations from her home in Columbia,
Maryland.
But the mood surrounding the case had changed
dramatically in the ensuing months.
"Everyone's heard as much as they want to hear about
Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky and the whole affair
involving the president," said Matthew Crenson, a
political science professor at Johns Hopkins University.
"I'm speculating here, but this motion on the
prosecution's part may be precisely an attempt to drop
the whole thing."
On Monday, Leasure could grant or deny Montanarelli's
motion, or decide that Maryland law does not give her
the authority to alter a previous order calling for the
suppression of evidence.
Prosecutors agree that another unfavorable ruling would
require serious soul-searching.
But senior prosecutor Mike McDonough bristled at the
suggestion that such a development would provide an
opportunity to get out. "I'm not sure that dropping cases
is what I'd call an opportunity. We charge cases to
prosecute them," he said.
Some Republicans agree, charging that prosecutors are
likely to push ahead if only to curry favor with the
Democrat-controlled state Legislature that approves
their $800,000 operating budget.
"I don't think we'll see them drop the case. They won't
have much of a case, but they'll continue," said one
Maryland Republican.
� 2000 Reuters Limited.
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