Lawyer indicted in Pellicano case
Christensen indicted in Pellicano case
Feb 16, 2006
A grand jury indicted prominent Hollywood attorney Terry Christensen on Wednesday for allegedly hiring investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire and former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian.
Christensen is accused of paying Pellicano at least $100,000 to illegally eavesdrop on Bonder Kerkorian's conversations with her attorney, a court mediator and others to gain a tactical advantage in a legal dispute.
Kirk Kerkorian is not implicated in the indictment, though sources said the underlying case involved a child support battle over Bonder Kerkorian's daughter, who Kirk Kerkorian was accused of fathering.
"I know everything that's going on, and obviously they don't know I know," Pellicano is accused of telling Christensen on April 29, 2002, according to the charges returned by a grand jury in Los Angeles. "Nobody knows except you and me."
Representatives of Christensen's firm, Century City-based Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, denied the allegations, saying Christensen only used Pellicano for a short period in 2002 when repeated death threats were being made against the young girl and Kirk Kerkorian.
"We are shocked that the U.S. Attorney's Office has chosen to take this action against someone who has only engaged in lawful conduct throughout his distinguished 35-year career," Christensen's firm said in a statement. "The death threats, as well as extortion demands and criminal fraud were all reported by Mr. Christensen to the police, the District Attorney and the Los Angeles County Child Protective Services. When the authorities were unable to protect his client and the little girl, Mr. Christensen took lawful actions to protect them."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Saunders said Christensen breached a fundamental ethical principle.
"By using an illegal wiretap to eavesdrop on conversations between his client's opponent and her own attorneys, Christensen obtained information that fundamentally changed the playing field during litigation," Saunders said. "No attorney should stoop to such levels to gain a tactical advantage."
The indictment unsealed Wednesday marks the first time that an attorney who used Pellicano has been implicated in the wiretapping scandal. Prosecutors hope to establish that other attorneys also sanctioned the wiretaps since Pellicano has refused to cooperate with authorities.
Pellicano and six others, including a telephone company technician and retired Los Angeles police officer, were named last week in a 110-count indictment alleging that such people as Sylvester Stallone, Keith Carradine, Herbalife co-founder Mark Hughes, journalist Anita Busch and screenwriter James Orr were subjected to illegal wiretaps. The case further claims that Pellicano bribed police officers to access the criminal records of people he was investigating.
The conspiracy and wiretapping charges filed Tuesday against Christensen and Pellicano amend the original indictment, adding to the dozens of counts facing Pellicano. The case is tentatively scheduled to go to trial April 4 before U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi.
Also Wednesday, prosecutors indicted veteran SBC employee Joann Wiggan of Burbank for allegedly committing perjury in talks to the grand jury about her contacts with SBC field technician Rayford Turner, who has been charged with providing the insider information that allowed the wiretaps to be placed.
Christensen, who is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the two counts.
Christensen is accused of using the wiretaps to "secure a tactical advantage in litigation by learning Bonder Kerkorian's plans, strategies, perceived strengths and weaknesses, settlement position and other confidential information," according to the charges.
The alleged eavesdropping on Bonder Kerkorian took place between March 15, 2002, and May 16, 2002.
Prosecutors allege that Christensen contacted Pellicano in a bid to "go after" Bonder Kerkorian's attorney, who had referred Christensen to the State Bar of California for disciplinary action.
On April 18, 2002, Pellicano allegedly listened in as Bonder Kerkorian and her attorney discussed a court ruling and their settlement position. Conversations between Bonder Kerkorian and mediator Debra Simon also were monitored, prosecutors said.
At one point, Pellicano warned Christensen to be careful with the information, saying "because there is only one way for me to know this."
It also is claimed that Christensen was provided with the contents of a call in which Bonder Kerkorian and her attorney discussed the identity of her child's biological father.
The 88-year-old Kerkorian had a long relationship with former tennis pro Lisa Bonder before she gave birth to daughter Kira in 1997. Kerkorian agreed to marry her in 1999 but the union lasted just 28 days and was later dubbed by Forbes Magazine to be the "nastiest" divorce on record.
In 2002, Bonder Kerkorian asked a California judge for $320,000 a month in child support in a case that received widespread publicity. She was eventually awarded $50,316 per month but Kerkorian suspected he was not the father of the child.
Christensen, a 65-year-old resident of Beverly Hills, has represented Kirk Kerkorian and his various businesses since the 1970s, at one point serving as president of Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. Christensen helped form the Christensen Miller firm in 1988 and continued to represent Kerkorian, MGM, MGM Mirage and other ventures, according to the firm's official history.
Other attorneys have acknowledged using Pellicano's services, including Bert Fields of the Greenberg Glusker firm. Authorities have questioned Fields about the wiretapping case but he has insisted that he had no knowledge of any illegal activity by Pellicano.
Christensen is accused of paying Pellicano at least $100,000 to illegally eavesdrop on Bonder Kerkorian's conversations with her attorney, a court mediator and others to gain a tactical advantage in a legal dispute.
Kirk Kerkorian is not implicated in the indictment, though sources said the underlying case involved a child support battle over Bonder Kerkorian's daughter, who Kirk Kerkorian was accused of fathering.
"I know everything that's going on, and obviously they don't know I know," Pellicano is accused of telling Christensen on April 29, 2002, according to the charges returned by a grand jury in Los Angeles. "Nobody knows except you and me."
Representatives of Christensen's firm, Century City-based Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, denied the allegations, saying Christensen only used Pellicano for a short period in 2002 when repeated death threats were being made against the young girl and Kirk Kerkorian.
"We are shocked that the U.S. Attorney's Office has chosen to take this action against someone who has only engaged in lawful conduct throughout his distinguished 35-year career," Christensen's firm said in a statement. "The death threats, as well as extortion demands and criminal fraud were all reported by Mr. Christensen to the police, the District Attorney and the Los Angeles County Child Protective Services. When the authorities were unable to protect his client and the little girl, Mr. Christensen took lawful actions to protect them."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Saunders said Christensen breached a fundamental ethical principle.
"By using an illegal wiretap to eavesdrop on conversations between his client's opponent and her own attorneys, Christensen obtained information that fundamentally changed the playing field during litigation," Saunders said. "No attorney should stoop to such levels to gain a tactical advantage."
The indictment unsealed Wednesday marks the first time that an attorney who used Pellicano has been implicated in the wiretapping scandal. Prosecutors hope to establish that other attorneys also sanctioned the wiretaps since Pellicano has refused to cooperate with authorities.
Pellicano and six others, including a telephone company technician and retired Los Angeles police officer, were named last week in a 110-count indictment alleging that such people as Sylvester Stallone, Keith Carradine, Herbalife co-founder Mark Hughes, journalist Anita Busch and screenwriter James Orr were subjected to illegal wiretaps. The case further claims that Pellicano bribed police officers to access the criminal records of people he was investigating.
The conspiracy and wiretapping charges filed Tuesday against Christensen and Pellicano amend the original indictment, adding to the dozens of counts facing Pellicano. The case is tentatively scheduled to go to trial April 4 before U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi.
Also Wednesday, prosecutors indicted veteran SBC employee Joann Wiggan of Burbank for allegedly committing perjury in talks to the grand jury about her contacts with SBC field technician Rayford Turner, who has been charged with providing the insider information that allowed the wiretaps to be placed.
Christensen, who is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the two counts.
Christensen is accused of using the wiretaps to "secure a tactical advantage in litigation by learning Bonder Kerkorian's plans, strategies, perceived strengths and weaknesses, settlement position and other confidential information," according to the charges.
The alleged eavesdropping on Bonder Kerkorian took place between March 15, 2002, and May 16, 2002.
Prosecutors allege that Christensen contacted Pellicano in a bid to "go after" Bonder Kerkorian's attorney, who had referred Christensen to the State Bar of California for disciplinary action.
On April 18, 2002, Pellicano allegedly listened in as Bonder Kerkorian and her attorney discussed a court ruling and their settlement position. Conversations between Bonder Kerkorian and mediator Debra Simon also were monitored, prosecutors said.
At one point, Pellicano warned Christensen to be careful with the information, saying "because there is only one way for me to know this."
It also is claimed that Christensen was provided with the contents of a call in which Bonder Kerkorian and her attorney discussed the identity of her child's biological father.
The 88-year-old Kerkorian had a long relationship with former tennis pro Lisa Bonder before she gave birth to daughter Kira in 1997. Kerkorian agreed to marry her in 1999 but the union lasted just 28 days and was later dubbed by Forbes Magazine to be the "nastiest" divorce on record.
In 2002, Bonder Kerkorian asked a California judge for $320,000 a month in child support in a case that received widespread publicity. She was eventually awarded $50,316 per month but Kerkorian suspected he was not the father of the child.
Christensen, a 65-year-old resident of Beverly Hills, has represented Kirk Kerkorian and his various businesses since the 1970s, at one point serving as president of Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. Christensen helped form the Christensen Miller firm in 1988 and continued to represent Kerkorian, MGM, MGM Mirage and other ventures, according to the firm's official history.
Other attorneys have acknowledged using Pellicano's services, including Bert Fields of the Greenberg Glusker firm. Authorities have questioned Fields about the wiretapping case but he has insisted that he had no knowledge of any illegal activity by Pellicano.
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