 Joe Halderman, the CBS News producer accused of attempting to extort $2 million from CBS Late Show star David Letterman, will be headed to a Manhattan court on Tuesday morning for the first hearing in the criminal case against him. He may also try to make it seem as if he wants to move forward with a trial whether that is true or not.
– The man accused of trying to blackmail David Letterman has raised $100,000 for his defense fund ahead of tomorrow’s first hearing in the case, and some experts think Robert “Joe” Halderman won’t accept a plea bargain despite his reported money woes. “This lawyer is a real litigator,” a Halderman friend tells the New York Observer of Gerald Shargel, “and Joe is paying the full boat to go to trial.” Adds an NBC analyst: “Don’t expect any grand revelations, but based on the way Shargel has behaved already, I would not be surprised to hear some theatrics from the defense.”