On leaks in Pellicano case *

Wednesday's Daily Journal will report that the Justice Department and the FBI may launch investigations into who gave the New York Times memos on government interviews in the Pellicano case with supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, Paramount Pictures head Brad Grey and former Disney president Michael Ovitz. The story by John Hanusz says prosecutors note that the memos leaked after they were provided to defense attorneys; they in turn point the finger at government lawyers, in particular the so-called "dirty team" of assistant U.S. attorneys who review case documents for privilege issues apart from the main prosecution lawyers.

This team previously disclosed documents to Gregory S. Dovel, a lawyer for Vincent "Bo" Zenga, an alleged victim of Pellicano's illegal wiretapping. Dovel then used the documents in a civil complaint against Pellicano, lawyer Bertram Fields and Fields' firm.

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Legal experts said they expect news outlets to be subpoenaed in a probe of the Pellicano leak. "It's almost a certainty that there will be a strong temptation on the part of the government to subpoena journalists in the investigation," said Rodney A. Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law. "We are in the midst of the cultural change in the relationship between journalists and the government," said Smolla, a First Amendment scholar.

"Outrageous conduct:” Also on the Pellicano beat, Ross Johnson reports at LAIndie.com on a filing by defense lawyer Steven F. Gruel that alleges the government used the jailed private eye's ex-girlfriend Sandra Carradine to intercept confidential attorney-client communication. "It is likely," Gruel writes, "that the government knew of Mr. Pellicano's interest in my representation even before I did." He wants a bail hearing for Pellicano and lead FBI agent Stanley Ornellas (and lead prosecutor Daniel Saunders) ordered off the case.

* Meanwhile: Wednesday's New York Times has another story based on confidential investigative documents, saying that divorce attorney-to-the-stars Dennis Wasser knew of at least one instance of illegal wiretapping by Pellicano.

11:58 PM Tuesday, April 25 2006 • Link
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