JOHN MCTIERNAN - DIRECTOR MCTIERNAN WITHDRAWS GUILTY PLEA

Director JOHN MCTIERNAN has dramatically withdrawn his guilty plea in relation to charges of lying to the FBI, blaming the u-turn on lack of legal representation when he made the admission last year (06). The Die Hard filmmaker continues to deny all knowledge of private investigator Anthony Pellicano's illegal activities in 2000, although he has previously (Apr06) admitted to hiring the spy to gather information on Rollerball producer Charles Roven. MCTiernan's lawyers are now appealing to have his plea changed to not guilty - 17 months after he first entered the plea - arguing that the U.S. government's case against the director relies on inadmissible evidence, and therefore should never have come to trial. Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer on Monday (10Sep07), his attorney Cornell Price claims MCTiernan "should never have been charged with a criminal offence". Price added: "(MCTiernan) is not a legal scholar. He is a moviemaker." The 56-year-old is due back in court for sentencing on 24 September (07), when a judge will rule on the plea withdrawal. He faces six months in jail if his plea is not overturned and he is found guilty. Pellicano is accused on 111 counts of wiretapping and police bribery, targeting stars including Sylvester Stallone, Keith Carradine and Garry Shandling - all of which he denies. He faces up to 20 years behind bars if he is convicted of the crimes.