John Graziano's attorneys will be allowed to hear Nick Bollea's jail recordings. But you won't

CLEARWATER — Attorneys for John Graziano and the Bollea family struck an agreement Friday on Nick Bollea's calls from the Pinellas County Jail.

They'll be able to listen to the tapes. You won't.

Graziano's attorneys had filed a motion to obtain recordings from Bollea's time in jail last year after the son of wrestler Hulk Hogan was sentenced for reckless driving.

George Tragos, an attorney for Graziano, said after Friday's proceedings that he believed in disclosure to the public. But the agreement allows only the attorneys to hear the digital audio recordings, keeping them confidential from the media.

Neither side disclosed how many hours of recorded conversations the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office kept from Bollea's five months in jail. About 26 hours worth were released last year after public records requests.

Bollea's attorneys sued Sheriff Jim Coats soon after, alleging the tapes were not public record and infringed on Bollea's privacy. The Sheriff's Office decided to hold the remaining recordings until the litigation finished.

"These are 26 hours of conversations between a boy, a 17-year-old boy, Nick Bollea, and his mother and his father and his sister," said Joseph Varner, an attorney representing Linda Bollea, to Judge W. Douglas Baird. "Obviously, those are sensitive."

Inmates are warned their calls will be recorded. The Sheriff's Office has said Bollea, now 19, is "not a member of any protected class" exempt from disclosure.

"We know these folks would like to get their hands on some of those recordings," Varner said, gesturing to a bench of local journalists. "It's probably of great interest to Entertainment Tonight."

The Sheriff's Office will be asked to comply within the next week. Tragos said the recordings could provide evidence showing inconsistencies that "could be valuable to us in court."

If Graziano's attorneys wish to use parts of the recordings, however, they'll have to seek permission from the other side. The court would then decide whether that conversation could be allowed into the case file, which is kept accessible to the public.

In the released recordings, Nick Bollea called Graziano, who was left with brain damage after Bollea crashed into a palm tree in 2007, a "negative person."

Graziano's attorneys filed suit last year seeking millions that could pay for Graziano's care.

Drew Harwell can be reached at dharwell@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4170.