case will follow the conventional wisdom . The 64-year-old celebrity sleuth is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that raked in more than $ 2 million by illegally spying , allegedly using wiretaps and law enforcement databases , on Hollywood 's rich and famous . He then dished the dirt to their rivals . If convicted of leading a criminal conspiracy , known as a RICO charge , he could spend up 20 years to life in prison . RICO , by the way , stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act . It 's the law the Justice Department used to bring down the mob . Prosecutors have to prove that Pellicano and his co-defendants ran a corrupt enterprise that profited from information they obtained illegally . U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer granted Pellicano 's request to represent himself , but she was n't too happy about it . `` If the U.S. Supreme Court did n't require me to let defendants represent themselves , I would n't do it , '' she said . Even without a law degree , Pellicano seemed to realize that getting the jury to acquit him of the conspiracy charge was
Sunny Hostin is a legal analyst on CNN 's `` American Morning . '' Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano represented himself at his federal trial . The jury 's still out . NEW YORK -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- There 's a courthouse adage : A person who represents himself has a fool for a client . When a defendant utters those tragic words , `` I 'm going to represent myself , '' judges blanch , attorneys snicker , and even the court reporters grimace . I 've been on the opposite side of those who have chosen to represent themselves . It was n't pleasant . Since 1975 , when the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment `` grants to the accused personally the right to make his own defense , '' many defendants have decided to take the law literally into their own hands . The most recent self-represented `` client '' is Anthony Pellicano , the Hollywood private investigator who 's been on trial for 78 counts lodged against him and two co-defendants . Pellicano 's jury has been out for a week , so it 's not yet clear whether the outcome of his