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No Ruling Yet On Release Of Bollea Jail Recordings

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

CLEARWATER - A circuit judge put off Wednesday deciding whether audiotaped conversations between Nick Bollea and his family should be released to news organizations.

Attorneys for Bollea, who is serving an eight-month sentence in the Pinellas County Jail, where such conversations are taped, are trying to persuade Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Jirotka to stop any more recordings from being released.

Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats, who oversees the jail, has released more than 20 hours of conversations Bollea had with his father, former wrestler Hulk Hogan, and mother, Linda Bollea.

The sheriff stopped releasing the recordings after Bollea's attorneys filed a lawsuit against him in June arguing, among other things, that the sheriff was violating Nick Bollea's privacy.

Coats' office thinks the conversations are public record.

So do attorneys with Thomas & LoCicero, the firm representing Media General, which owns The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and WFLA, Channel 8. Attorneys Gregg Thomas and Susan Tillotson Bunch were at a hearing Wednesday to argue for the release of the recordings.

Bollea's attorneys say the conversations were not public because of Bollea's status as a juvenile when Coats released the first batch of recordings.

Jaime Eagan, associate general counsel for the sheriff's office, said the recordings were public because Bollea had been adjudicated as an adult.

It was not clear when Jirotka would rule on whether the audiotapes are public record.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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