Kirk Kerkorian on stand

The Bev Hills billionaire made a rare public appearance today, testifying in the trial of attorney Terry Christensen and Hollywood gumshoe Anthony Pellicano (a trial that up to now has gotten virtually no attention). The two men face two felony counts each in connection with the alleged wiretapping of Kerkorian's ex-wife, Bonder, during the couple's child support battle. Kerkorian, who was on the stand for about 30 minutes, said he had no knowledge of any wiretap targeting his ex-wife during his tawdry child support battle. Kerkorian had charged that the wife had conned him into believing that her daughter was his biological child. In fact, the girl had been fathered by Hollywood producer Steve Bing. Federal prosecutors allege that Christensen hired Pellicano to wiretap Bonder. Christensen's defense attorneys contend that Pellicano was hired because Bonder Kerkorian was threatening to harm Kerkorian and her own child. Kerkorian said he knew nothing about Bonder Kerkorian being wiretapped. As for other nuggets:

--The 91-year-old Kerkorian wore a blue blazer and magenta tie.

--A man held Kerkorian’s arm to steady him as he slowly entered the Los Angeles federal courtroom.

--He called Christensen an "honest" and "true" friend.

--After Christensen's attorney, Patricia Glaser, asked him to summarize his "personal background," he said "How far down?" Kerkorian then boiled down his career into a few sentences - dropping out of school in the seventh grade, flying planes in the military, starting an airline, and getting into casinos, automobile manufacturing and oil.

Here are stories from the LAT and LABJ.