Aug 29, 2008 11:43 pm US/Pacific
Private Eye Pellicano Guilty Of Wiretapping
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Pellicano and Christensen were each convicted of conspiracy to commit
wiretapping. Pellicano was also convicted of wiretapping and Christensen was convicted of aiding and abetting a wiretap. (File)
AP
Former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and entertainment lawyer Terry Christensen were convicted Friday of federal wiretapping and conspiracy charges for tapping the phones of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's ex-wife during a child support dispute.
Pellicano and Christensen, both 64, both face up to 10 years in federal prison and $500,000 in fines when they are sentenced Nov. 17 by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer.
The seven-man, five-woman jury began deliberating Wednesday, but the panel had to begin its discussions from scratch on Thursday when Fischer dismissed one of the jurors for making questionable comments in the jury room and then lying about making them.
Pellicano and Christensen were each convicted of conspiracy to commit wiretapping. Pellicano was also convicted of wiretapping and Christensen was convicted of aiding and abetting a wiretap.
During 20 days of trial testimony, prosecutors argued that Pellicano and Christensen conspired to illegally bug the telephones of Kerkorian's ex-wife, Lisa Bonder. At the time, Bonder was entangled in a bitter child support dispute with Kerkorian, a longtime client and friend of Christensen.
The cornerstones of the prosecution case were 34 recorded conversations between Pellicano and Christensen in which they allegedly discuss Bonder's private phone calls. During their deliberations, jurors heard a playback of three of the conversations.
Christensen's attorney and law partner, Patricia Glaser, called the government's case "hooey" and said the evidence amounted to "bupkis," noting that no actual recordings of Bonder's phone calls were ever recovered.
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