Attorney Calls Fleiss a Victim : Court: As trial begins for alleged ‘madam to the stars,’ defense blames police sting for her arrest.

Heidi Fleiss, alleged “madam to the stars,” was the victim of lying, overeager police officers pretending to speak Japanese who perpetrated a desperate sting operation, her attorney said during opening arguments Monday at her Superior Court trial.

Fleiss was told a “cock-and-bull story” that was “shrewdly calculated by police to entice (her) into committing a criminal act when no act would have occurred otherwise,” lawyer Donald Marks said during his 35-minute opening remarks on behalf of Fleiss, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of pandering and possession of cocaine for sale.

The trial kicked into gear with the playing of taped phone calls between Fleiss and undercover Beverly Hills police Detective Sammy Lee, in which Lee requested “entertainment” for other undercover police posing as businessmen.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Carter also played for jurors a scarcely audible videotape of Lee meeting Fleiss and alleged prostitute Peggy Schinke later to arrange for four women to visit his hotel suite.

“In the history of this business, in one year, no one has ever been able to do what I do,” Fleiss is heard to say. “I know 1% of the wealthiest people . . . and of all the girls that I select that are gonna work for me, maybe I meet 100 girls, maybe in two weeks and I only pick one.”

*

Fleiss arranged for four prostitutes, each of whom was to be paid $1,500, according to the tapes.

Lee, who called himself businessman Niko Akai, is heard on the tape asking, “And for $1,500 what are we talking?”

Fleiss is heard to respond, “We’re talking about everyone’s gonna have a good time.”

If convicted, the 28-year-old daughter of a prominent pediatrician faces up to 11 years in prison. On Monday, Fleiss appeared in a conservative blue suit, trimmed with gold buttons. Though her parents and younger brother sat in the front row of the courtroom, Fleiss did not turn around. When court was adjourned, her mother, clad in black, wrapped her arms around her daughter.

After her arrest in September after she tested positive for consuming stimulants and depressants in violation of probation, Fleiss has been assigned to a Pasadena-based drug rehab program.

Fleiss’ arrest for pandering last year set Los Angeles atwitter, mostly because of widespread speculation about her alleged clientele, which was said to include stars and studio executives. But for faithful followers of the Fleiss saga, the true denouement may not occur until January, when she and her father, pediatrician Paul Fleiss, are scheduled to go on trial on federal charges of money laundering, bank fraud and alleged conspiracy to conceal the young woman’s income from her prostitution business.

Attorneys could try to unravel the trail of Fleiss’ alleged clients, many of whom reportedly wrote checks to her from personal accounts.