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Top lawyer 'innocent'
22/02/2006 07:49 - (SA)
Los Angeles - A top Hollywood lawyer on Tuesday pleaded innocent to hiring a celebrity sleuth accused of bugging stars' phones to wiretap the ex-wife of billionaire ex-movie mogul Kirk Kerkorian.
Kerkorian's longtime lawyer and business partner Terry Christensen, 65, will remain free on bail pending trial following his indictment last week in connection with his dealings with private eye to the stars Anthony Pellicano, in a case that threatens to implicate some big Tinseltown names.
Christensen is accused of paying Pellicano at least $100 000 to bug the phone of former tennis pro Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, who was married to MGM Mirage casino boss and former MGM movie studio owner Kerkorian in 2002.
At the time of the wiretapping, she was involved in a fight over child support with her former husband, who had denied fathering her daughter, then four-year-old Kira, prosecutors contend.
'He did nothing wrong'
But Christensen's criminal lawyer Terree Bowers insisted that his client was simply protecting one of his clients, and that he did nothing wrong.
"The actions of Terry Christensen were legal, justified and necessary, and the exact actions that any reasonable attorney would take when his friend and a young child (were threatened)," Bowers said outside court.
Hours after the hearing, MGM Mirage, one of the world's largest hotel and casino groups in which Kerkorian is the main shareholder, announced that Christensen had stepped down from the company's board of directors pending the outcome of his trial.
"Terry Christensen is a founding director of MGM Mirage and we are confident that after a trial on the merits, he will be exonerated," said the company's chairperson and chief executive J Terrence Lanni.
Pellicano remains behind bard
Pellicano, 61, who also has worked for stars such as Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor, was charged along with six other people this month with conspiracy and plotting to secretly bug the phones of stars including Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carridine as well as a dozen other people.
He is also accused of using bribes to obtain police records on other individuals, including US comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon.
Pellicano remains behind bars after pleading not guilty to charges in a 110-count racketeering and conspiracy indictment accusing him of using illegal means to get information on his probe targets.
Six other people were named in the lengthy indictment that targeted Pellicano, in an investigation that began in 2002 and has resulted in a total of 13 people being charged.
But entertainment lawyer Christensen's indictment marked prosecutors' first foray into Hollywood's highest echelons, sparking speculation over whether any of the private eye's big-name celebrity and attorney clients could be charged.
In another related case, longtime telephone company worker Joann Wiggans also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to perjury related to the grand jury investigation of Pellicano's wiretapping activities.
- AFP
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South Africa
