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Judge: Bollea's Mom Can Intervene In Recordings Suit

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 1, 2008

CLEARWATER - A circuit judge ruled today that Linda Bollea has the right to intervene in a lawsuit filed by her incarcerated son to stop the Pinellas sheriff's office from releasing more recordings of her son's visits with family members.

But Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Jirotka made it clear his decision was not based on Bollea's argument that her privacy rights were violated by the release of the recordings. Jirotka has not decided whether the audio recordings are public record.

Rather, Jirotka wrote, Bollea "has a direct and immediate interest in whether her recorded visits and telephone conversations with her son, the plaintiff, are released to the public."

Bollea's attorney had argued that, because she was the custodial parent of her son, Nick, when audio and video recordings were released when he was 17, she has the right to intervene in the lawsuit.

Jirotka also said that Media General Inc., the parent company for The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com, cannot demand an immediate hearing at this time as to whether the video and audio recordings are public record.

Jirotka said the matter was not ready for discussion in court. Among other things, according to Nick Bollea's attorneys, the discovery process – in which opposing sides swap all the information they've gathered before making formal arguments before a judge – was not complete.

In June, Nick Bollea filed suit against Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats, who operates the jail, after Coats released to the media hours of recorded conversations Bollea had with his father, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, and Linda Bollea, who is divorcing Hogan.

Nick Bollea is serving an eight-month sentence because of a wreck that left his passenger, Iraq war veteran John Graziano, with brain damage.

In one of the audio recordings, Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, says Graziano might have deserved his fate.

Coats released the recordings — along with video of Nick Bollea's family visiting him at the jail's video visitation center — after media organizations asked for them under Florida public records laws.

There is no expectation of privacy in the conversations because communicants are constantly reminded as much, Coats' spokesmen have said.

Coats' office stopped releasing the audio recordings after Bollea's attorneys filed suit because the sheriff wants a judge to decide the issue.

Bollea's attorneys have argued that the audio recordings should not have been released because Bollea was a juvenile at the time the recordings were made, and typically a detained juvenile's conversations with his parents are not public record.

Bollea recently turned 18.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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