Judge denies Pellicano retrial

A U.S. district judge in Los Angeles on Monday rejected a request for a new trial by an attorney for Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano, who alleged jurors may have been influenced by a prosecutor’s comment outside trial and by an Internet blog.

Attorney Steven Gruel, who is representing Pellicano in a limited capacity, argued in court Monday that the private eye’s first criminal trial should be thrown out because a juror lied about overhearing a prosecutor’s allegation that a witness had committed perjury.

In that trial, Pellicano and four codefendants were convicted in May of 76 counts, including racketeering, computer fraud and wiretapping. Last month, a separate jury found Pellicano and Terry Christensen, a Century City attorney who used Pellicano’s services, each guilty of two counts related to wiretapping billionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s ex-wife.

Gruel in court papers said the juror’s misconduct “fatally infected” the panel’s verdict. He also alleged that another juror during trial talked about information her husband had read on the Huffington Post’s daily blog. Jurors are not supposed to read or view outside material while hearing or deliberating on a case.

“No one likes to haul back a jury,” Gruel said. “The inconvenience of doing that is not the test; the test is what the 6th Amendment requires.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Daniel Saunders said that there was not enough evidence to warrant a new trial and that there was a law barring jurors from testifying about the deliberation process to prevent the losing party from harassing jury members.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer said some jurors told her they were repeatedly receiving calls. After his attorney’s motion was denied, Pellicano repeatedly asked the judge that he be sentenced as soon as possible. Gruel said outside court that Pellicano was eager to “move on” and that he would be filing an appeal once his client was sentenced. “It’s only been going on since 2002,” Gruel said.

Pellicano was initially slated to be sentenced Wednesday, but attorneys said Monday that the date needed to be rescheduled because a forfeiture hearing had to occur before sentencing. That hearing will determine the sum to be confiscated from Pellicano and his codefendants, which prosecutors have argued should be at least $2,079,250.

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victoria.kim@latimes.com