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Former New York Times Hollywood correspondent Bernard Weinraub, who had teamed with Anita Busch at one point, also took the stand today in the Anthony Pellicano trial. Allison Hope Weiner's recap of the day for the Huffington Post is pretty good, and she says that as of today the statute of limitations ran out on charging Michael Ovitz in the case. Here are some excerpts:
After being forced to endure alleged harassment, wiretapping and death threats from Mr. Pellicano, Ms. Busch was forced to endure just one more indignity today--Mr. Pellicano's cross-examination. With one hand placed behind his back and one sneaker clad foot resting casually on the podium, Mr. Pellicano sought to portray Ms. Busch as a money-seeking journalists who'd somehow made up the fact that she was stalked, harassed, threatened, wiretapped and then, forced to give up her own career.
After Ms. Busch explained that following seeing the dead fish and rose on her car (along with the bullet hole in the front windshield), she met with her editor and the L.A. Times' attorney, Mr. Pellicano wondered what she was doing meeting with her editor and lawyer. Ms. Busch explained that she was a journalist and as such, had special obligations in dealing with law enforcement.Mr. Pellicano also use his cross to suggest that perhaps Ms. Busch hadn't been threatened on one occasion because she'd failed to report the incident to the police. "It was a relentless attack as you know Mr. Pellicano," Ms. Busch shot back.
[skip]
Mr. Weinraub seemed confused about how to negotiate around the exhibits, about his driver's license number and about how you don't answer a question after the Judge had sustained an objection to that question. Clearly, Mr. Weinraub is not a fan of Law and Order. Mr. Weinraub's testimony was brief and relatively uneventful since Mr. Pellicano chose not to subject him to the disrespectful and often nasty grilling he'd inflicted on Anita Busch. In fact, Mr. Pellicano was so polite to Mr. Weinraub that he even commented on Mr. Weinraub's need to protect his sources. Wondering at whether Ms. Busch was the major contributor in the anti-Ovitz stories the two reporters did together back in 2002, Mr. Pellicano politely inquired about who accessed the most sources. Showing a concern for the first amendment that apparently doesn't extend to reporters writing about this trial or posting audio recordings of Mr. Pellicano, the former detective deferentially questioned Mr. Weinraub.
Most of her post, naturally, covers Ovitz's testimony.