Lohan lawyer wants prosecutors investigated for leaks
- Mark Heller: TMZ source "would have to be" one of the two prosecutors
- "It impacts the integrity of the legal system in California," Heller says
- Santa Monica police are investigating Heller on suspicion of witness tampering
- Lohan enters rehab next month
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Lindsay Lohan's lawyer accuses prosecutors of leaking details of her case to TMZ, which he says resulted in "an inaccurate report" about where the actress will go for rehab.
Mark Heller, who is himself being investigated for alleged witness tampering in Lohan's probation violation case, called for an investigation of the Santa Monica and Los Angeles city attorneys.
"It's horrible, because Lindsay Lohan or any defendant should be able to feel that their privacy is being protected," Heller told CNN on Wednesday after TMZ reported Lohan would check into the Seafield Center in Westhampton Beach, New York, for her court-mandated 90 days of substance abuse rehabilitation next month.
"It impacts the integrity of the legal system in California," said Heller, a New York lawyer.
That information was included in a "personal and confidential" e-mail he sent to the two prosecutors, Heller said. "Since I'm the only one who communicated that, it more or less would have to be that one of the two prosecutors would be their source," he said.
"A source tells me it may result in the launch of a major investigation in California to ascertain where all these leaks and breaches of confidentiality are emanating from," Heller said.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney declined to comment, and the Santa Monica prosecutor was in court and unavailable to respond.
"Think how it impacts the facility, and the people in the facility who go to the facility to get treatment and, lo and behold, 100 paparazzi show up at the front gate and impair the privacy," he said.
Lohan, 26, was ordered to spend 90 days in rehab as an altern! ative to 90 days in jail for her "no contest" pleas to lying to police about a car crash, reckless driving and violating her probation for a shoplifting conviction.
"It shocks me that I learn about what's going on in this case from the Internet more quickly than I do from the prosecutors," Heller said. "These Internet facilities are running amok, and they are violating rights and they are perverting our judicial system."
"Lindsay Lohan is the victim," he said. "She should be afforded some sort of privacy."
Santa Monica police are investigating Heller for suspicion of asking Lohan's personal assistant, who was in the car with the actress when she was involved in a car crash last June, to lie in his testimony by saying he had control of the Porsche when it crashed into a dump truck, a source close to the investigation told CNN last month.
The Santa Monica city attorney asked the city's police to investigate, according to the source, who asked not to be identified since the source is not authorized to discuss it with news media.
"I can sum it up in one word: ridiculous," Heller said when asked for a comment last month. "What can I tell you?"
Lohan, just ahead of the premiere of "Scary Movie 5," in which she appears with Charlie Sheen, paid a visit to David Letterman's CBS show Tuesday.
"We never thought we'd see you again, honestly, because of the jokes and stuff," Letterman told her. "But you have enough spine, enough sense of yourself, enough poise to come out here and talk to me."
Lohan joked with Letterman about her criminal history, but also got serious about her upcoming rehab stay.
"I think this is an opportunity for me to focus on what I love in life," she said. "I don't think it's a bad thing, I think it's a blessing."