Judge: Does Aisenberg drug admission exist?

No reference to drug use exists on the prosecution's tapes of Steven Aisenberg, defense attorneys say.

By LARRY DOUGHERTY

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 1999

TAMPA -- A federal judge Wednesday ordered prosecutors to say whether they have a taped statement of Steven Aisenberg admitting drug use.

Despite claims in September by a federal prosecutor that Steven Aisenberg had been caught on tape admitting cocaine use, defense attorneys have found no reference to cocaine use on tapes prosecutors have provided to the defense.

On Wednesday, a judge gave prosecutors 10 days to say if the taped statement about cocaine use exists. Their previous statements on the question have been inadequate, the judge wrote.

The cocaine allegation was a sidelight to federal charges last September that the Aisenbergs lied to police when they reported the kidnapping of their 5-month-old daughter, Sabrina, from their Brandon home in November 1997.

The girl has never been found. Soon after her disappearance, police planted listening devices in the home and recorded the couple talking. Those tapes were the basis for the federal indictment in September charging the Aisenbergs with lying.

The Aisenbergs deny wrongdoing, and are out on bail awaiting trial.

The federal indictment quotes the Aisenbergs saying on tape that Steven Aisenberg "harmed" the baby and that Marlene Aisenberg helped cover it up.

But Steven Aisenberg's alleged comment, "it was the cocaine" that caused him to harm the baby, is not in the indictment. Federal prosecutor Rachelle DesVaux Bedke quoted the comment to a judge the day the Aisenbergs were arrested. She wanted the court to order Steven Aisenberg to undergo a drug test, which he did.

In ordering the government to say whether the cocaine comment exists, U.S. Magistrate Mark A. Pizzo cited a Florida Bar rule requiring lawyers to be candid with judges. Pizzo also cited prosecutors' constitutional obligations to turn over exculpatory material to defendants.

Lead defense attorney Barry Cohen renewed his attacks on prosecutors Wednesday, saying "the public will soon see how they've been betrayed by their own government in this case."

A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

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