slate.com
Defense attorneys in the wiretapping trial of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano are urging the judge to launch an investigation of NYT reporters David Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner to determine who supplied them with information about evidence in the case. From the LAT:
The leak investigation has been handled by the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI in San Diego because prosecutors and FBI agents in Los Angeles are among those with access to the compromised evidence.
But in recent weeks, defense lawyers have urged U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who is hearing the Pellicano criminal case in Los Angeles, to intervene. Defense attorney Terree Bowers, who represents entertainment attorney Terry Christensen, one of Pellicano's co-defendants, has been particularly aggressive, accusing the government of involvement in the leaks.
In recent court papers, Bowers said the New York Times reporters told an unnamed witness that they had received the confidential information from the government before it was turned over to defense attorneys.
Bowers also asserted that lead FBI agent Stan Ornellas told another witness that he had lost some of his notes on the case. If true, Bowers argued, the missing documents could be the source of the leaks. Or Ornellas could have made up the story to set up an alibi against charges that he was the leaker.
In other Pellicano news, the judge has ordered an end to the civil lawsuit pile-on. No more defendants will be added to the thirteen lawsuits filed against Pellicano by people whom he allegedly wiretapped and/or sought private information about via extra-legal means.
So, there you have it. Once billed as the Most Exciting Hollywood Trial Ever, the Pellicano affair is turning out sort of odd and anti-climactic, bogged down in procedural detail. There's always Cussler/Anschutz.
