In that audiotape, according to prosecutors, Pellicano talked to attorney Peter Knecht to pressure him into getting his client, Bilal Baroody, to make good on a $300,000 loan he had not paid back to Universal Studios President Ron Meyer.
In the Sept. 20, 2000, tape, Knecht insists that Baroody is only his friend and no longer his client. He expresses surprise that Baroody owed money to Meyer. But Pellicano persisted.
"He swore on the Koran he was going to make payments," Pellicano said. "He hasn't done a . . . thing." Pellicano warned that Baroody was toying (the private eye's word was stronger) "with the wrong person."
"Ron?" asks Knecht.
"Me," says Pellicano.
Since it started, the trial has been watched closely to see who in Hollywood might tumble alongside Pellicano.
Observers have been curious about what entertainment attorney Bert Fields, who had hired Pellicano, might say under oath in a trial.
So it caused a bit of a stir Tuesday when prosecutors said Fields' attorney had informed them that if Fields is called to the stand, he will invoke his 5th Amendment right not to testify on grounds that he might incriminate himself.
But in an interview with The Times, Fields said that was not the case.
"I am not going to assert the 5th Amendment; I have nothing to hide," the lawyer said in a telephone interview. "And I will be glad to testify whenever I am asked."
Fields' comments came shortly after U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer called a hearing for Monday about the attorney's possible testimony in the case.
One of the best-known lawyers in Los Angeles, Fields acknowledged almost five years ago that he had been formally notified he was a "subject" of the federal government's sweeping investigation of wiretapping and other crimes allegedly committed by Pellicano and co-defendants including former police officers.
No charges have been filed against Fields.
One person who took the stand Tuesday made it clear that he was not only taking responsibility for his involvement with Pellicano, he was also tortured by it.
Under direct examination, former music industry executive Robert Pfeifer, who has already pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting illegal wiretapping, went through his long history of hiring Pellicano.
"I was foolish enough to give him power of attorney," Pfeifer said in a soft, strained voice.
He also revealed that he gave Pellicano as much as $225,000 to wiretap his ex-girlfriend, Erin Finn, who had given damaging testimony about him at a deposition several years ago.
"The idea was to discredit her and have her eventually recant her testimony," Pfeifer said. "I thought I was being betrayed. I was an irrational person."
Pfeifer said on the stand that he was there to redeem himself to a certain extent.
"Like the cliche, I hope the truth sets me free," he said.
He also said he hoped the prosecutor would recommend leniency for him.
"I know it's the judge's decision," he said, occasionally blotting tears from his eyes. "I hope she gets to know me a little and know I have remorse."
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carla.hall@latimes.com
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Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this report.
