Jan 9, 2008 10:50 am US/Pacific
Pellicano To Serve As Own Lawyer In Wiretaps Trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano (file)
AP
A federal judge has reluctantly allowed Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano to take over as his own lawyer in his upcoming trial on charges of illegally wiretapping celebrities.
Los Angeles U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer told Pellicano on Wednesday that the private eye was making a bad decision but he said he was required by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow him to do so if he insisted.
Pellicano's lawyers said later that his motivation was to save them from having to represent him for free in a lengthy trial after the judge refused to appoint them at court expense.
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