You know, we all knew this Hawaiian-Mesa trial was going to be fun to watch from the bleacher seats, but little did we know just how much.

Yesterday, we finally got to hear the Mesa defense side of just why it was that CFO Peter Murnane seems to have deleted lots and lots and lots of material from more than one computer. Some of it, according to Hawaiian attorneys, was information that would prove that Murnane and Mesa used confidential material they obtained from Hawaiian — as part of their Hawaiian regional airline start-up planning.

The reason? Peter apparently likes naked girls. (Or boys — they were not specific.)

In what has to be one of the more creative, er, desperate, defense strategies I’ve heard in a long time, Mesa defense attorneys yesterday argued that the reason Murnane erased bulk amounts of material from a number of computers is because he had been cruising porn sites and his computer (s)? had become infected with a virus.

Yes, apparently Luscious Lips Linda is the real cause of this problem. Not Rosemary Woods.

I don’t know whether to laugh or throw up.

But, as we all know, nothing is ever as it seems, or as one reader commented to me today, “You know Peter knows where the skeletons are at Mesa, so you can be sure if he is now “taking the rap” for this — in an attempt by Mesa to avoid being found guilty of the bigger offense — Murnane is not going to be left out in the cold — penniless. Ain’t going to happen.”

Good point. And I would agree.

Which makes the whole thing even more sleazy.

Speaking of porn, that reminds me. A couple of years ago I was told that Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein was part owner of a “gentlemen’s club” in Phoenix. Anyone know if that is still the case?

I mention this because, as we’ve seen Mesa do in the past, often the airline can be its own worst enemy — and once again I’m not sure they have thought out the potential bigger picture ramifications of accusing its CFO of sitting around accessing porn sites all day.

I think it’s called, “Digging the hole deeper.”

Meanwhile, you can read the latest creative storytelling from the Hawaiian courtroom here.

Ticker: (NYSE:HA), (NYSE:MESA)

Technorati Tags: Hawaiian Airlines, Mesa Airlines