Phil Spector case goes to jury

Phil Spector’s fate is once again in the hands of a jury.

A panel of seven men and five women filed out of the courtroom at 11:40 this morning to begin deliberations. Jurors, who have heard five months of testimony in the legendary music producer’s retrial in the shooting death of Lana Clarkson,  are considering whether  her  death six years ago was suicide, as the defense contends; murder, as the prosecution alleges; or manslaughter, a choice required by law but embraced by neither side.

Spector, 69, the inventor of pop music’s “Wall of Sound,”  faces a minimum of 18 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. His defense maintains Clarkson was depressed and turned Spector’s .38 Special on herself. Prosecutors contend  he shot Clarkson in the mouth after she tried to leave his Alhambra mansion.

In a final argument to jurors before they began deliberations, a prosecutor seized on the actress’ chance meeting with Spector, three hours before her death, at a Sunset Strip club where she was a VIP room hostess.

He asked jurors to imagine they could speak one sentence to her before she got in Spector’s chauffeured Mercedes.

“You are all thinking the same thing,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson said. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he continued, “You’d say, ‘Lana, whatever you do, don’t go.’”

He said the impulse to warn Clarkson came from jurors’ knowledge of “the real Phil Spector” -- a “demon” with a history of menacing women with guns.

Jackson asked jurors in Spector’s 2007 trial to imagine the same scenario. That panel deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of conviction.

Outside the presence of the panel, Spector’s attorney moved for a mistrial on the grounds that the prosecutor had argued the producer had a propensity to commit crime. Spector, dressed in a black suit and chartreuse tie, remained stoic during the summation. In the front row of the courtroom, Clarkson’s mother, Donna, wiped away tears.

-- Harriet Ryan

Photo: Phil Spector. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Susan]

Spector not only had a lifelong propensity towards brandishing guns at women AND men, but he actually did commit a crime.

Weinberg's grasping at straws. Guess he's trying to show his client he's keeping busy. Not gonna work.

Guilty as charged.

[Spectorfan8]

I believe that the jury will come back with a hung jury,or not guilty. Phil Spector is innocent of the crime for which he is being tried.
Phil we are still out here showing our support and standing by your side.

If you see this Phil, stay strong. Always a Team Spector Supporter.

Paula

[Friend of Lana's]

Rest in peace Lana.

WE are still out here remembering YOU and we know you would never, ever kill yourself.

Bye, bye Phil.

I don't think anyone on this jury shops at the Alhambra Tar-jay.

You're going to jail.

[Inland Empire]

The rich are always innocent.

[David]

Let us all hope the jury finds slime Spector guilty of the murder he DID commit. Let's hope they send him to the only place this guy belongs ... for the rest of his life: San Quentin.

[cindy]

wake up people! how many times do we need to watch a sick mentally challenged man murder a beautiful innocent woman?
Isn't anyone awake ?
time and time again this man has done harm gotten away with doing harm and if he walks .........watch out for your daughters
cause he will do harm again.
What century are we in the 17th?

[john]

Nice wig.

[Peter]

I didn't attend the trial, was not privy to all the evidence and arguments and therefore cannot fairly comment on what verdict I think the jury should return. All that those in my position can hope is that the jury faithfully applies the law, including particularly the constitutional requirement that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and returns its verdict accordingly.

[jimmyhoffabush]

What Phil is a brunette today? Like OMG, he's way better as blonde or with a fro.

[Elizabeth]

Peter - I couldn't agree more. I don't understand why people make such hateful, inflammatory comments. We are country where our citizens are entitled to justice. If Phil Spector's DNA is not on the gun, and he had no gunshot residue on him or his clothes, how can everyone presume he is guilty??

[Stephen Gianelli]

I wish there were more people commenting in the Blogosphere like Peter.

Please, stop the hating and let the jury do its job.

If it was all that clear who did what to whom the prosecution case would not have taken four months to present.

[Nick]

Maybe Phil will be consumed by his BAD HAIRPIECE before this trial ends.

Phil's Guilty.

OJ's Guilty.

Baretta's Guilty.

Next.

[jessiema]

another case of the rich and famous getting away with murder

[E]

Anyone who honestly thinks Phil Spector did not commit this crime has NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION. You say evidence proves Phil's DNA was not on the gun? MAYBE--- because PHIL WIPED THE GUN DOWN, along with wiping Lana Clarkson's face with a diaper used to clean his god forsaken guns (Lana's blood was also found on the banister and the doorknob. If Phil was nowhere near her when the gun went off, how is it that he got blood on his hands and his jacket?). You say evidence proves Phil had no GSR on his hands or clothing? HIS CLOTHING WAS NOT TESTED. The defense COULD have had it tested but they did not (also may I add that IF they DID test and FIND GSR, Phil had a house FULL of guns. You'd find GSR on top of the refrigerator or in the pantry!). You say GSR was not on Phil's hands? HE WASHED HIS HANDS, he took off the jacket he was wearing when he shot Lana (and put it in an upstairs bedroom). Evidence DOES show where Phil was standing when he shot Lana--- within 2 feet in front of her, and Lana's hands were busy trying to push Phil's hands, which were holding the gun, away from her face. Look at crime scene photos and notice how Lana is sitting in the chair-- she is pushed back, trying to push herself AWAY. Phil pulled the trigger but Lana's hands blocked GSR from getting on Phil's hands. PAY ATTENTION to the REAL EVIDENCE. It's a very sad, sad state of affairs all around but PHIL SPECTOR IS GUILTY OF MURDER. Plain and simple.

[Steve]

I have just a couple of reactions to some of the previous comments posted. To Stephen Gianelli: If you look with a critical eye you will realize that the prosecution did not take four months to present its case. For example, Dr. Lynne Herold was on the stand for about 6 or 7 days, probably about 90% of that time was on cross examination by Weinberg. And that's the way that it went for virtually every prosecution witness. Even if they had taken 4 months to present their case in chief, so what? The trial process isn't T.V. They don't have to finish a case in one hour to move on to the next movie. What was a normal trial day like in Dept. 106 over the last several months? Start at 9:30 and go to 10:30 or 10:45. Break. Start at about 11 and go to 12. Lunch. Start at 1:30 and go to about 3. Break. Start at 3:30 and go to 4:30. Done for the day. So, the jury heard testimony maybe for about 5 hours per day, maximum. The trial was held Monday thru Thursday: Fridays were dark. This doesn't include the days that they had to take off because of prior juror commitments, or for time spent arguing motions and sidebars when the jury was sent back to their jury room. Stephen, maybe you were just trying to make a humorous comment, but it does reflect a little bit of ignorance about the criminal trial process.
To all: There will always be people like Spectorfan8 who will purposefully ignore all evidence that demonstrates guilt way beyond a reasonable doubt because they just don't want to believe it. For these people even a video tape of the entire incident would not be enough to convince them that their idol is guilty. They will rationalize that the tape is fabricated or they will attempt to come up with some other explanation to discount it. That's fine. People with that type of bias are to be expected, but we hope that the voir dire process will keep them off the jury.

[BB]

"Upon arrival, I made contact with Officers Cardella, Hammond, Rodriguez, Tamayo, and Sgt. LaGuard. Ofr. Cardella was speaking with the RP (later id’ed as R-De Souza). After he finished speaking with him, he advised me that R- De Souza was the driver of the resident at 1700 Grand View. On this date, he had returned to the address to pick up his boss and had driven to the rear of the location. As he was waiting outside the location, he heard what he believed to be a gun shot coming from inside. R-De Souza went to the rear door and opened. When he did, he observed S-Spector standing in the foyer with a gun in his hand and a female sitting in a chair near the door with blood on her face. When S-Spector saw R-De Souza, he said, “I think I killed her.” R-De Souza told Ofr Cardella that he left at that time to call the police.”

Alhambra Police Department Supplemental Report 2/3/3002 time: 05:02 PST

This says it all for me.

[IndyGena]

Everything that "Steve" said was spot-on... I can't add anything to it. Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. I hope the old &%^$* dies a horrible death in jail Maybe Phil will bump into OJ in the laundry room and OJ can recreate for him what he did to Nicole and Ron... now that would be justice!

[Annietrannie]

spectorfan8, give it a rest. All you are doing is making a giant fool of yourself by ignoring the evidence, flooding blogs and ignoring your children.

Anyone can google your nic and see how mentally unstable you are.