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Attorneys, but not public, can listen to Bollea jail recordings

File photo (2007)

John Graziano was a passenger in Nick Bollea's car during a crash in August 2007.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2009

Updated: 09/04/2009 02:35 pm

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  John Graziano

Nick Bollea

CLEARWATER -

Conversations between Nick Bollea and members of his family recorded while Bollea was serving jail time for a wreck that grievously injured passenger John Graziano will be made available to Graziano's attorneys.

But the media or the public won't get to listen to them.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird assented to an agreement between the attorneys representing Graziano and those representing Bollea; his father, Hulk Hogan, who is also known as Terry Bollea; Nick Bollea's mother, Linda; and Danny Jacobs, who investigators say was racing with Nick Bollea on city streets before the wreck.

The guardian for Graziano is suing the four for millions of dollars that attorneys say are needed for Graziano's long-term care. Graziano was left with brain damage as a result of the Aug. 26, 2007, wreck and is at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa.

According to the agreement, Graziano's attorneys will gain access to all the audio recordings but promise, with few exceptions, not to file parts of the recordings or transcripts of them in the case court file, which would be viewable by the media and public.

If Graziano's attorneys want to use parts of the recordings to make a point in a court motion – which would be public – they would have to give the Bolleas and Jacobs an opportunity to object. Baird would then decide whether that particular recording slice could be discussed at a court hearing, which is public.

The attorneys asked that Baird not sign off on the agreement permanently for seven days, a move designed to give Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats time to object, if he desires. Coats oversees the jail, where the recordings were made, and is the custodian of them

Meanwhile, there is a separate proceeding involving the recordings. After more than 20 hours of them were released to the media, Nick Bollea sued Coats on the grounds the release constituted a violation of his privacy. Coats backed off on releasing any more until a judge decided whether they were public record, and that judge hasn't made a ruling yet.

In the recordings released, Hogan and his son are heard disparaging Graziano and suggest Graziano must have done something to bring his injuries onto himself. George Tragos, one of Graziano's attorneys, said today he and his colleagues would pore through the remaining recordings to see, among other things, where any of the Bolleas spoke of the wreck differently than they have elsewhere.

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

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