The latest

By Times staff writer

In February, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Norman Wolfinger,the state attorney for Seminole and Brevard counties, to investigate whether Detectives Linda Burton and William Blake broke any laws. Barry Cohen calls it a "whitewash" in progress; he says investigators have not contacted him. "That's like investigating a rape without ever talking to the victim."
In July, the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility began an investigation of assistant U.S. attorneys Stephen Kunz and Rachelle DesVaux Bedke, which the office said is standard in cases when the government agrees to pay a defendant's legal fees.

The Aisenberg case has prompted no substantive changes in Sheriff's Office policies, a spokesman says. Detectives are not required to tape-record important interviews; the bugging policy didn't change.
Detective Linda Burton still works in the Criminal Investigations Bureau.
Detective William Blake was transferred from Criminal Investigations to patrol in January 1999, for "personal and family reasons." He is a traffic homicide investigator.
Both detectives say they can't comment because of active investigations. "We would love nothing more than to have the true story told," Blake said.
Maj. Gary Terry said he stands by his detectives and looks forward to the day all the Aisenberg documents can come out: "This case is about Sabrina and has always been about Sabrina, and we're still endeavoring to find her and learn the circumstances surrounding her disappearance."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kunz was demoted in July from his supervisory position as deputy chief of the criminal division. He works in the special prosecutions unit. He hired attorney Greg Kehoe to represent him in the Justice Department investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachelle DesVaux Bedke was transferred in late July to a job in the economic crimes division, a move her boss said was unrelated to the Aisenberg case.
Citing federal rules that forbid prosecutors from talking about active cases and investigations, both prosecutors said they could not comment. In court documents, both have said they acted properly and ethically in the case.
Their boss, U.S. Attorney Mac Cauley, said in a letter he stands by the court filings.

Eric Myers, the prosecutor who supervised the bugging operation, was appointed a Hillsborough county judge last year. He says he wouldn't change anything he did, but he said the detectives should have acted more carefully. "There was some sloppiness in the case."
Judge F. Dennis Alvarez left the bench July 1 to work for a private law firm.
Judge Mark Pizzo's finding that the bugging operation was illegal said that detectives misled Alvarez to get him to authorize their warrants. Said Alvarez: "The system is based on believing sworn law enforcement officers when they take an oath and tell you that what they're showing you is true. Without that trust, the system breaks down."
Defense attorney Barry Cohen has prepared binders thick with information about the case for 60 members of Congress. Ask him about "the government" and sometimes he won't answer unless the reporter refers to the detectives and prosecutors as "those liars."
- On Marlene and Steve, who now work in the medical supply business: "It's not only my job to protect them from those liars. It's my job to help them get their reputations back."
- On Sabrina: "I think that baby is alive and being loved by some family."