Pellicano Gets Hearing on Wiretapping Misconduct Allegations
In a rare victory for celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano, a federal judge agreed yesterday to hold an evidentiary hearing to explore defense claims that there was government misconduct in the wiretapping probe of their client.
Pellicano’s lawyers have long claimed that the FBI and federal prosecutors acted improperly by using Pellicano’s ex-girlfriend to elicit confidential information from him without his lawyer’s knowledge while he was in prison, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Pellicano’s lawyers claim the ex-girlfriend—Sandra Carradine—was used a “mole” to explore what the defense was planning.
“The agent, the prosecutor and the informant are the core group,” attorney Steven Gruel is quoted as saying. “And this ruling allows us to explore what we have maintained all along: that the government showed a disregard for Mr. Pellicano’s rights by sending Ms. Carradine in as a mole to find out what was going on in his defense camp.”
