A Manhattan Supreme Court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case against accused David Letterman blackmailer Joe Halderman.
Justice Charles Solomon denied a motion presented by Halderman's lawyer Gerald Shargel that laid out a so-called Tiger Woods defense; that Woods' paramours sought pay-offs in exchange for their silence.
Halderman, a former producer of the CBS News program 48 Hours Mystery, could face 5-15 years in prison if convicted of extortion. Prosecutors argue he attempted to shake down Letterman for $2 million by proposing a screen-play about a talk show host whose "world is about to collapse around him" after the revelation of affairs with multiple female staffers.
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Shargel argued that his client was legitimately attempting to sell Letterman a screenplay and therefore his right to free speech applies.
"There was no extortion. There was a screenplay for sale," Shargel has said. "There was a commercial transaction. Nothing more."
But Judge Solomon did not buy it.
"[The] defendant argues that the statute is overbroad as it applies to him because he has a constitutionally protected right to write a book or screenplay about a public figure," Solomon wrote. "Since the defendant is not being prosecuted for authoring either a book or a screenplay, his constitutional right to free speech is not impacted."
Halderman is due back in court March 9 to learn his trial date.
