Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES Former "private eye to the stars" Anthony Pellicano and attorney Terry Christensen conspired to illegally wiretap billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's ex-wife as part of a "war" to destroy her, a federal prosecutor told a downtown Los Angeles jury today.

But one of Christensen's attorneys told the panel her client was a victim of Pellicano, who pulled a con job on Christensen for the benefit of another Pellicano client -- multimillionaire film producer Steve Bing.

Federal prosecutors allege that Christensen, a long-time attorney for the 91-year-old Kerkorian, paid Pellicano $100,000 to illegally wiretap Kerkorian's ex-wife during a bitter 2002 child support dispute.

Lisa Bonder, a 42-year-old former tennis pro who was married to Kerkorian for 28 days, was attempting to have her ex-husband's monthly child support payments increased from $50,000 to $320,000.

A court later denied her request to up the monthly payments to $1.5 million.

Pellicano and Christensen are charged with conspiracy to commit wiretapping. Pellicano is also charged with wiretapping and Christensen is charged with aiding and abetting a wiretap.

In his opening statement to the seven-man, five-woman jury, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Lally called the 64-year-old Christensen "the shot-caller directing defendant Pellicano's activities," while Pellicano, also 64, acted as "a soldier" for the attorney.

Christensen was an "active participant" in the wiretapping conspiracy in order to utterly defeat Bonder, so she'd never try and do battle with Kerkorian ever again, Lally said.

Christensen called the legal battle a "war" and hired Pellicano to be an "unseen, unheard and completely uninvited eavesdropper to their adversaries' most private conversations," Lally said.

Prosecutors will play for the jury 34 telephone conversations that Pellicano secretly recorded of Christensen and himself -- about six hours and 30 minutes in total -- in which the two "discuss all aspects of the wiretapping conspiracy," Lally said. The recordings were seized by the FBI in a November 2002 raid of Pellicano's West Hollywood office.

Beginning in March 2002, the two men "developed a very quick trust," and "spoke openly and brazenly" about the wiretapping, even cackling about it, Lally said.

The wiretaps were deactivated in May 2002, with Pellicano telling the attorney "the switch gets shut," the prosecutor said.

Multiple witnesses from Pellicano's recent racketeering trial will reappear in this case to testify as to his wiretapping capabilities, Lally said.

But Patricia Glaser, one of Christensen's attorneys and a partner at his Century City law firm, blasted Pellicano as well as the government's case, quoting Benjamin Franklin by saying, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."

Glaser, nursing a cold and speaking in a West Virginian drawl, emphatically told the jury there was no evidence that Bonder was wiretapped, no reliable evidence of wiretapping itself and that Christensen had only hired Pellicano to discover the identity of the father of Bonder's child.

Pellicano asked Christensen if he could work on the Bonder litigation -- all the while serving a different master: Kerkorian enemy Steve Bing, whom DNA tests proved was the biological father of Bonder's daughter, Glaser said.

Bing, who was a Pellicano client during the time of alleged wiretaps, later filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Kerkorian, but dropped it.

"Mr. Pellicano had his own agenda," she said. "It's called `The Bing Agenda."'

Christensen "had no idea he was being recorded," Glaser said, adding that Pellicano is a nationally recognized expert in audio recordings.

Pellicano, who is "not a truth-teller," repeatedly lied to Christensen during the calls and had the motive, means and opportunity to doctor the digital recordings, she said.

"The government's case rests largely on believing Mr. Pellicano," Glaser said.

Christensen will call to the stand an audio expert who couldn't authenticate the recordings, Glaser said.

"Christensen was a victim of illegal recording, not a perpetrator," Glaser said.

Glaser also blasted Bonder, stating that the ex-tennis pro committed perjury, threatened to kill her own 4-year-old daughter, Kira, deceived Kerkorian into believing he was the father of Bonder's child and was found to have credibility problems by two state judges.

Bonder also tricked Kerkorian's daughter into providing a saliva sample, then using it in an attempt to prove Kerkorian was Kira's father."Ms. Bonder lied, deceived and threatened Mr. Kerkorian," Glaser said.

At one point when describing Christensen and Kerkorian's 30-year relationship, Glaser appeared to suggest that the billionaire will testify at the trial.

Pellicano, who is acting as his own attorney and addressed the jury at his recent racketeering trial in a somewhat rambling manner, declined to make an opening statement today.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

If convicted, they face up to 10 years in federal prison and $500,000 in fines.

Christensen is free on bond.

Earlier this year, after a 10-week trial, a jury found Pellicano guilty of 76 felonies, including racketeering, computer fraud, identity theft and wiretapping. His four co-defendants in the trial were also found guilty. Their sentencing is set for Sept. 24.

Prosecutors allege that Pellicano was a pit bull for the powerful, sabotaging lawsuits and ruining lives for the benefit of his high-powered clientele. Pellicano argued during his racketeering trial that stories of his ruthlessness were overblown, or in some cases, fabricated.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)