Pellicano's co-defendants accused of supporting roles in his scheme

It is Pellicano who faces the most counts and casts the biggest shadow over the trial, now in its eighth week. But prosecutors allege that his unlikely posse of co-defendants all played important roles in the elaborate wiretapping and racketeering scheme he is accused of masterminding. Some defendants, prosecutors allege, had bigger parts than others.

Former Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mark Arneson is accused of illegally tapping into law-enforcement computer databases to feed Pellicano confidential information for his clients. Arneson has already spent hours on the stand defending himself as a hard-working cop -- only to be filleted later by a prosecutor who painted him as a crooked liar.

Then there is Abner Nicherie, 44. A friendly, boyish-faced Las Vegas businessman turned nursing student, he faces a single count of aiding and abetting the interception of wire communications. Nicherie has dozed during the trial and was warned by the judge to stop being so chatty with one of the court reporters who transcribe proceedings. His lawyer said Thursday he would not present a defense.

This week, Rayford Turner, the former phone company technician, and Kevin Kachikian, the computer expert, put on their defenses, playing their parts in very different ways.

So far, Turner, 51, who is accused of being paid to deliver proprietary phone company information to Pellicano, has been cast as the affable ladies' man. From his seat in court, he watched, unruffled, as a former phone company employee, who pleaded guilty to computer fraud, tearfully told of pulling confidential phone records for Turner -- and cooking fried chicken for his frequent parties. He laughed when another former colleague who gave him confidential information said on the stand that she thought he looked like professional basketball star Tony Parker.

"I'm sorry, Ray," she said plaintively. "I don't mean to embarrass you."

Former Pellicano bookkeeper Gaye Palazzo told the court she "messed around" with Turner at work in a closet.

Meanwhile, Kevin Kachikian, 43, who wrote the code for Pellicano's TeleSleuth computer program for wiretapping, is the social misfit who by his own admission grew up more comfortable with electronics than with girls. He stands accused of wiretapping, conspiracy to wiretap -- and bad dressing.