Posted on 04/02/2007 2:53:33 PM PDT by SmithL
LOS ANGELES - Civil trials stemming from a Hollywood wiretapping scandal will have to wait until private investigator Anthony Pellicano and five others are tried in a federal criminal case, a judge ruled Monday.
Attempting to move the civil cases forward while the criminal trial is pending would be a "judicial nightmare," Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman said. He said several issues, including interviews of potential witnesses, could complicate the legal process.
"There is no question in my mind at this juncture, a stay is needed," said Lichtman, who ordered attorneys to return to court Oct. 22.
More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against Pellicano and others, accusing them of invasion of privacy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress. The suits seek unspecified damages.
Prosecutors contend in a 111-count criminal indictment that Pellicano illegally wiretapped the phones of Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone and bribed police officers to run the names of more than 60 people, including comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon, through government databases.
The information gathered was used to get dirt for threats, blackmail and in some cases to secure a tactical advantage in litigation, prosecutors alleged.
Fourteen people have been charged in the case, with seven pleading guilty so far. Pellicano, 63, and five defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of wiretapping and conspiracy. The criminal trial is slated to start Aug. 22.
Attorneys in the civil cases who represent Pellicano's alleged victims said they wanted to depose some defendants, including corporations, who haven't been charged in the criminal case. Among them - Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Brad Grey, one-time Walt Disney Co. president and former head of the Creative Artists Agency Michael Ovitz and entertainment attorney Bert Fields.
All three men had ties to Pellicano but have denied any wrongdoing.
Defense attorneys argued it's virtually impossible to move forward in the civil cases because they don't have access to key evidence. U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer has issued a protective order in the criminal case to prevent the release of documents.
"This isn't a level playing field," said attorney Brian Sun, who represents the law firm where Fields works. "We are asking the court to have a level playing field."
Despite the order, some confidential FBI files were given to the New York Times, which has prompted a federal investigation into who was responsible for the leak.
Pellicano listened by phone from a federal prison to Monday's hearing on the civil cases and agreed it would be best to wait until the criminal trial has finished.
"In fairness to all parties, nothing is going to be resolved until the trial is resolved," Pellicano said. "Until then, lots of hands are tied."
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Was this guy involved in the Clinton investigation machine?
What do actor Steven Seagal and Senator Hillary Clinton have in common? Both allegedly hired the same low-life private detective to do their dirty work.
Anthony J. Pellicano was arrested recently for hiring an ex-con, allegedly at the direction of Seagal, to intimidate Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch. Ms. Busch was investigating a Mafia extortion plot against the actor. In a scene seemingly taken straight from a "Sopranos" script, Busch arrived at her car to find the windshield shattered and a dead fish in her front seat with a long stemmed rose in its mouth. A sign nearby read, simply, "Stop," obviously referring to her investigation.
According to the man responsible for the intimidation attack, Alexander Proctor, Seagal initially hired Pellicano to do the job. Instead, however, the Clinton-connected private detective subcontracted the job to Proctor. An FBI raid of Pellicano’s office uncovered enough explosives to "bring down a plane or blow up a car," according to the New York Daily News.
Followers of JW’s case on behalf of Gennifer Flowers may recall that it is alleged that Hillary Clinton hired Pellicano in 1992 to discredit Ms. Flowers after she publicly revealed her long-term affair with former President Clinton. Pellicano, who was billed as an "audio recording expert," claimed that Ms. Flowers’ smoking gun tapes of conversations with Bill Clinton were "selectively edited," a bold-faced lie.
The liberal media has, not surprisingly, ignored the Pellicano Clinton connection. . . .
http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/newsletter/2003/0203g.shtml
Mark bump
fyi
Pellicano and Lenzner get a mention in this — http://youtube.com/watch?v=O8N07ElonjI
this guy is such a dirtbag.
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