Pellicano trial turns up dead fish, roses

April 09, 2008 In the most dramatic day of testimony to date, former Hollywood powerbroker Michael Ovitz and former entertainment reporter Anita Busch took the stand Wednesday in the government's wiretapping and racketeering trial against Anthony Pellicano. Ovitz told a reasoned, straightforward story about why he hired a gumshoe to gather dirt on his detractors; Busch gave a riveting account of her reactions to months of intimidation, which she says originated with the former uber-agent. Ovitz took the stand first, wearing a dark blue suit with a lavender-gray tie, and unapologetically told the jury that he hired Pellicano in 2002 to dig up "embarrassing" things on Busch and New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub.

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