Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano rested his case Friday in federal court after calling just a single witness to rebut charges that he conducted a years-long, illegal wiretapping and racketeering operation on behalf of his wealthy clients.
Pellicano, who represented himself in court, made for an awkward defense attorney and repeatedly begged his only witness -- a subdued FBI computer forensic expert -- to speak up on the stand. The questioning lasted about an hour.
Pellicano chose not to take the witness stand himself -- although he has told U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer that he reserves the right to testify at the end of the trial. In contrast, his co-defendant, Mark Arneson, a former Los Angeles Police Department sergeant, spent most of the day testifying passionately in his defense. He is charged with making numerous unauthorized searches of confidential LAPD databases.
"Yes, I did cross the line," he testified, admitting he made the checks. But it was all part of his "complex relationship" with Pellicano, who provided police with beneficial information, he said.
Arneson said that while he furnished Pellicano with confidential information, the private detective provided the sergeant and vice officer with "guidance," particularly about organized crime suspects. "He wanted me to watch my back; he wanted me to know what I was dealing with if I was going to go after these people," Arneson said.
Pellicano, 64, started the morning with his wife, Kat, and his two daughters, Josi, 17, and Tori, 18, in the courtroom watching him. ("I think he did excellent," Kat Pellicano said.)
Wearing a dark green, jail-issue jacket, Pellicano questioned FBI computer forensics expert Donald Schmidt about the computers and audiotapes the FBI seized from the private eye's Sunset Boulevard office in 2002. Pellicano pressed Schmidt on how he knew he had found audiotapes that might be from wiretaps.
"I found what sounded like telephone recordings," Schmidt said.
"OK. What is a wiretap?" Pellicano asked.
"My understanding is it's a recording of a phone call," Schmidt answered.
After Pellicano rested his case, Arneson's attorney Chad Hummel led his client through the story of his life -- growing up in Playa del Rey, shifting his career aspirations from writer to cop -- and the genesis of his involvement with Pellicano.
