CLEARWATER, Florida A weeping Nick Hogan tells his parents that he is "really freaking out" behind bars and begs them to ask the judge to put him under "house arrest." That conversation and other, more controversial ones is part of 26 hours of jailhouse tape released this week by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, according to Showbiz Tonight on CNN.
Parts of the conversations can be heard at CNN's Web site. Nick Hogan, whose real name is Nicholas Bollea, is not even a month into an eight-month sentence for reckless driving with serious bodily injury. The August 26, 2007, crash left Hogan's passenger, John Graziano, with severe head injuries in what is described as a semi-conscious state.
The jailhouse conversations between Nick Hogan, 17, and his parents, Linda and professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, are striking in their vitriol toward the victim and his family. At one point, Hulk Hogan says: "For some reason God laid some heavy s--- on [Graziano]. Nick Hogan describes Graziano as a "negative person." In response to the tapes, the Graziano family issued a statement that described the Hogan family's subdued and contrite court appearance as "a true Academy Award performance."
A whining Nick Hogan tells his parents in the tapes that "I want to breathe fresh air!" He says: "I'd do anything to get out of this room." At one point, Nick Hogan asks his father to hook him up with a new "reality deal."
"We can call it 'the new Nick,'" Hulk Hogan responds, telling his son to use his jail time to come up with a catchy name for a new post-jail reality show. "Don't freak out," he tells his distraught son.
Jailhouse phone conversations are typically recorded, except in the case of phone conversations between an attorney and his client. Those are viewed as privileged. Other conversations can be considered part of the public record, and thus become available to the media and to any other person who may request them.
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