Pellicano Trial: Bert Fields Will Not Testify

BREAKING:
Turns out that Mark Arneson's attorney, Chad Hummel, has decided not to call Bert Fields as a witness. So, turns out that the jury will not get to hear any testimony from Mr. Fields on anything related to Mr. Pellicano's alleged wiretapping on behalf of many of Mr. Fields' clients.

The Judge has agreed to allow former Sgt. Mark Arneson's attorney, Chad Hummel, to ask F.B.I. agent Stan Ornellas questions about the nature of his investigation. That's actually a big deal because Mr. Hummel wants to show that the government just decided that Mr. Arneson wasn't telling them the truth when they questioned him and never bothered to verify Mr. Arneson's assertion that he'd done real security work for Mr. Pellicano.

When we last left off on Wednesday, F.B.I. agent Stan Ornellas was testifying on the stand. When Mr. Hummel, attempted to ask Mr. Ornellas questions about whether he investigated Mr. Arneson's assertion that he'd done security work for Mr. Pellicano, the judge basically shut him down. She generally told the defense lawyers that this case wasn't going to turn into a trial on whether the F.B.I. properly investigated the case against Mr. Pellicano and friends. But based on case authority presented by Mr. Hummel today, the judge changed her mind and is going to allow Mr. Hummel to get into the details of Agent Ornellas' investigation.

So, there may be not Bert Fields, but tomorrow could get interesting as the defense puts the F.B.I. investigation under the microscope.

More soon...

Read all the coverage from inside the Pellicano courtroom