Spector says Cutler lost jury connection

At the luncheon recess in Superior Court today, Phil Spector said he decided against having Bruce Cutler spearhead the closing arguments in his murder trial. At the start of today's session, Cutler announced he was quitting.

Cutler's connection with jurors who would decide the music producer's fate had been harmed, Spector said.

"I didn't think it was in my best interest,'' Spector said of the lawyer whose bruising style has led to the term "Brucified" -- what happens to witnesses who come under his punishing style of cross examination.

-- Greg Krikorian

Comments

[Carlos Echevarria]

Judge Fidler emasculated Bruce Cutler from the beginning and Spector's present team never bonded with him.....Cutler is a great attorney and court showman!!!

Alan Jackson is a cheap thug who attemps to act like Jack McCoy on steriods!!!

[AJ]

" Spector says Cutler los jurry connection "
see above
why the bad English on your website?

[A.O.]

Oh ! my : The big case is almost over. Punkin and Jenny got their last shot at Lana and both did not do well. Jenny stated of the three phone calls made during and after the big party when supposedly Lana freaked out, well she recovered enough to laugh also sober enough to drive Punkin home maybe it was exaggerated or high on something ? Punkin later stated that when questioned by detective Tomlin she lied/fail to the truth on advice of her friend also Punkin should get a lawyer ! Why in the world would Punkin need an attorney ? Maybe punkin friend thought Lana was holding and it involved Punkin ? My doggy and I as bias as we are, never heard of anyone needing an attorney when not involved. The E-mails are very lengthy which indicates she loves to write , But in order to write, one has to be in the mood and sober. Maybe Lana was not loaded as much as her friends lead the jury to believe. Concerning the purse issue. Punkin looks like she is doing some damage control , since Lana was found with her purse on her shoulder, leaving the impression that she always had her purse on or near-by. Oh my ! the photos do not show her purse . What can this mean ? Maybe she like the rest of the world keeps her purse nearby and when ready to leave, she takes it with her . The whole case as far as my doggy and I are concern is : THE LIMO DRIVER AND P.S. STATEMENT. there is no way to get around it . I hope Punkin gets whatever she has coming hopefully NOTHING from the club owner who was friends with P.S. , her book, magazine and tv show deals. My doggy who is a JACK RUSSEL ordered me to stop writing for awhile. he is waving his paw by,by,by. I would like to thank KTTV and the LOS ANGLES TIMES for giving the public the chance to become involved . WOFF, WOFF

[A.O.]

Oh my : Correction ! The station was KTLA (sorry Marta and Lonnie ) . Woff .

[JJ]

TO ALL:

CUTLER LOST THE JURY?? HE DOES NOT HAVE FAITH IN YOU PHIL.....!
HE KNOWS YOU ARE GUILTY. HOWEVER, AN APPELLATE ATTORNEY ON BOARD??.....JURY PAY CLOSE ATTENTION!!!
I MISSED MAMA B TODAY.

JJ

[mimi]

Blood on his jacket. Blood up his sleeve. Blood in his pocket. Said he killed her. History of threatening women with guns. Dead woman in a chair, a bullet ithrough the mouth. Blood on diaper cloth from where he tried to wipe down the gun and scene. I guess with all that evidence against the defendant, the defense attorneys could only go after the character and stability of the dead woman, but man, they sure gave me a bad feeling about lawyers. Baden and Spitz also looked pretty darn sleazy-- making stuff up and trying to make it sound plausible with a lot of scientific garbage talk. As for Cutler-- his Don Rickles routine doesn't go over that well in court with witnesses who aren't mafiosi-- he was as ineffective as he could be, and his opening statement was just plain bad. Murder on their minds-- well duh! Dead woman, cleaned up scene, a bloody diaper by the toilet, and a wacko Phil running around-- gee, I wonder why the cops thought their might be a need for a murder investigation? Cut me a break.

[d. harrington]

The real clue is in the spit. They had mutual oral and probably other sex after spending only a few hours together. This was probably the final blow to her obviously fragile mental state.

[A.O.]

To d. harrington : Oh my, we have another sick puppy among us . Your contention is , she had mutual sex and for this reason she shot herself or did P.S. put her out of her misery , you were not clear as to whom pulled the trigger ? One would think if what you said was true, Lana would be happy now getting someone to help her with her career ( the worst part is over, now clear sailing ) or maybe he forced her with the point of the gun ? What would you do if someone had a gun at your head ? No if Lana shot herself then Phil would have just ran out , there would be no reason to give first aid , not for a mouth shot . Try again. Woff

[Amy M. Stoody]

Cutler's bombastic style may work well on the East coast but it only alienated the Los Angeles jury and angered Judge Fidler when he went on a blistering attack in his opening statement and cross-examination. I give Spector credit for at least realizing that Cutler would cause him more harm than good at this point in time. The irony is that Cutler's face is now plastered all over buses, advertising for the new television show that he devoted his time and energy to during the course of the trial. It is also no coincidence that attorney Riordan, an appellate specialist, has now been brought in to assist the defense with jury instructions when there is only one count against Spector. Interesting.

[Janie]

Why did she "commit suicide when her purse was over her shoulder? Like the rest, she was trying to leave and got it. I believe he pulled the gun, she struggled to get it away from her face, and Spector fired. I hope this hot head finally gets what he DESERVES. The rest of his life behind bars. Then he won't have to worry about a date, ever again. There will be plenty in prison.