updated 6:48 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2008

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.

“It is such a bad idea that if the United States Supreme Court did not require me to allow defendants to represent themselves, I would not do it,” U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer warned Pellicano.

It was the second time Pellicano has opted to become his own lawyer. He did the same thing a year ago but then rescinded his decision and used the services of attorneys Steven Gruel and Michael Artan, who handled pretrial motions.

Pellicano, handcuffed and wearing a green prison jacket, told the judge that he knew that his attorneys worked hard but that he no longer needed their help.

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

Pellicano, once a highly paid investigator who was considered the secret weapon of big-time Hollywood lawyers to get dirt on famous litigants, has been in prison for nearly five years. He served a 2½-year term for a weapons possession conviction, then was indicted along with five co-defendants on charges of illegally tapping phones and bribing police for information on celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and Garry Shandling.

Their trial is set for Feb. 27, but an attorney for one of the other defendants, Terry Christensen, told the judge he would seek a postponement in order to pursue more motions, including a bid to sever Christensen’s case from that of Pellicano.

The judge told him to take his request to an appellate court.

Fischer said the case was unusual because there are co-defendants, and she warned that their lawyers could take advantage of Pellicano’s lack of representation. He said he was aware of that.

Trying to impress upon him the seriousness of his situation, the judge had the prosecutor read the array of 108 charges that could carry combined maximum sentences of 625 years on conviction, as well as fines of $26.7 million.

“Do you have any questions?” the judge asked.

“No, ma’am,” said the defendant.

Pellicano appeared with a large bandage on his nose and said he was going to a hospital from court. His lawyers declined to say what was wrong.

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