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Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 01:43:09 -0400
To: TSCM-L2006_at_googlegroups.com
From: "James M. Atkinson" <jm..._at_tscm.com>
Subject: Pellicano is Having a Really Bad Day
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/people/e3ibcf6d45fc7a036dfb8add3bf10c9a50b
Anthony Pellicano found guilty
Convicted of racketeering, conspiracy
By Leslie Simmons
May 15, 2008
Anthony Pellicano, the former celebrity private eye who set up shop
on the Sunset Strip and boasted clients who were some of Hollywood's
rich and powerful, was found guilty Thursday of racketeering,
wiretapping and running a criminal enterprise.
Pellicano, who represented himself at trial and called just one
witness, sat still and showed little emotion as Judge Dale Fischer
read the jury's verdict, convicting him of all but one of the 77
counts against him. Sentencing is set for Sept. 24.
The jury found that Pellicano wiretapped a who's who of Hollywood,
including CAA's Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane; Sylvester Stallone;
Garry Shandling and his former girlfriend, actress Linda Doucett;
Kevin Nealon and his wife at the time, Linda Nealon; producer Vincent
"Bo" Zenga, his wife, Zorianna Kit, and brother, Jerome Zenga; Keith
Carradine and his wife, Hayley Dumond; the late producer Aaron Russo,
his sons, Max and Samuel, and his longtime girlfriend, Heidi Gregg;
and Anita Busch, former editor of The Hollywood Reporter.
Busch, who was in court to hear the verdicts, said: "The full story
of Pellicano's reach has yet to be told. To Pellicano and his wealthy
clients, 'winning' meant obliterating someone's life and livelihood.
They saw the media as just another weapon in their arsenal and used
and abused it to go after anyone in their cross hairs."
Attorney Neville Johnson, who represents Russo's estate in a civil
suit against Pellicano, added: "It's a big day. I'm not surprised.
This is a great day for justice, and now the civil cases can proceed."
Johnson represents plaintiffs in five cases against Pellicano and
others involved in his crimes and said there are more cases to come
as a result of the criminal trial.
Each of the racketeering counts carries a maximum of 20 years in
prison, while most of the other counts have five-year maximum
sentences. He was acquitted of one count of unauthorized computer access.
Pellicano is due back in court July 15 to face trial on two
additional charges of conspiracy and wiretapping with former client
and attorney Terry Christensen.
Pellicano's wife, Kat Pellicano, was in the courtroom to hear the
verdicts. After court was adjourned, she said she was "devastated."
Pellicano was hired by Hollywood power brokers, including Michael
Ovitz, who asked the gumshoe to find the source of unflattering
stories by Busch and New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub about
his doomed talent agency, Artists Management Group.
Busch testified at trial, giving some of its most dramatic and tragic
testimony. Often crying uncontrollably, she talked about how she had
feared for her life after finding a dead fish on her car's windshield
and having a dark car practically run her down outside her apartment.
Paramount studio head Brad Grey hired Pellicano while he was still a
talent manager, after Shandling filed suit against him over money.
Shandling testified that Grey was a Svengali of sorts, who kept his
contract in lockdown, away from the comedian and his lawyers. Grey
later testified and said those allegations were false.
Comedian Chris Rock testified how he hired Pellicano to investigate a
woman who was trying to shake him down.
Co-defendants Mark Arneson, a former Los Angeles police sergeant, and
former Pacific Bell employee Ray Turner also were convicted of
racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. Arneson, guilty of all 46
counts against him, and Turner (17 counts) ran hundreds of records
searches on subjects of Pellicano's investigations.
Kevin Kachikian, a software engineer, was found guilty of one count
of creating a wiretapping program that Pellicano used to tap into
phone calls, but he was acquitted on nine wiretapping counts. And
former Pellicano client Abner Nicherie was found guilty of aiding and
abetting a wiretap.
Outside the downtown federal courtroom, attorneys for Kachikian and
Arneson said they believed the jury instructions were flawed and that
they plan to appeal. Kachikian faces up to 10 years in prison.
The trial started March 5 and included often titillating and shocking
testimony, including that Pellicano allegedly offered to kill someone
for a Wall Street stockbroker and that Paradigm head Sam Gores hired
the investigator to find out who was sleeping with his wife. It
turned out to be Gores' brother.
Jury forewoman Terri Winbush said prosecutors did "an excellent job
in presenting the evidence," which included dozens of recorded
conversations Pellicano made with his clients.
Winbush, a principal with the Los Angeles Unified School District,
said those recordings was "excellent" evidence and described the
tawdry tales of the rich and famous to be "shocking."
"Personally, I felt (Pellicano) should have had someone represent
him," she said.
"Justice was served," the jurist added. "People were lied to, and
their identification and lives violated."
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