Hollywood Private Eye Anthony Pellicano to Serve as Own Lawyer

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge on Wednesday reluctantly allowed Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano to take over as his own lawyer in his trial on charges of illegally wiretapping celebrities.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer told Pellicano it was a bad decision but he was required by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow the private investigator to do so if he insisted.

Pellicano's lawyers said later that his motivation was to save them from having to represent him for free in a lengthy trial after the judge refused to appoint them at court expense.