A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the murder case against
Phil Spector when the jury reported that it was deadlocked 10-2 in
favor of convicting the music producer of killing actress Lana
Clarkson more than four years ago. The prosecutor's office
announced it would seek to retry Spector, and the family of the
actress also pledged to press on.
Music producer Phil
Spector, center, stands with his attorneys Roger Rosen, left, and
Linda Kenny Baden after Judge Larry Paul Fidler declared a mistrial
in Spector's murder trial at the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los
Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. (AP Photo)
"We will not rest until justice is done," said John
C. Taylor, a lawyer for the family.
Spector and his wife, Rachelle, left the courthouse shortly
after the mistrial. The producer's attorneys later met with the
jury.
"We thank the people of Los Angeles for keeping an open mind and
the jury for their very hard work and their willingness to share
their thoughts with us," defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden said
after the meeting.
The mistrial came after months of a trial in which jurors had to
decide who pulled the trigger of a revolver — leaving no
fingerprints — that went off in Clarkson's mouth early Feb. 3,
2003. The jury had met for about 44 hours over 12 days since
getting the case Sept. 10.
A week ago, the jury foreman had reported a 7-5 split. After
that, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler withdrew a jury
instruction that he decided misstated the law and issued a new one
giving examples of what panelists could draw from the evidence,
including the possibility that Spector forced Clarkson to place the
gun in her own mouth.
Fidler polled the jury, and each member agreed that a unanimous
decision was not possible.
Some jurors agreed to talk to reporters at the courthouse but
did not give their names. The foreman would not say which way he
voted; the other two said they voted for guilt.
One juror said that the holdouts argued over whether Clarkson
was suicidal and that the entire jury would have liked to see a
psychological profile of the actress. Another juror was troubled by
what Spector, who did not call 911, did in the 40 minutes between
the death and the time police arrived.
"He acted like a guilty man," the juror said.
The foreman noted that the "inability to reach a decision is
controversial to most."
"Even on the jury there's deep regret that we were unable to
reach a unanimous verdict," he said.
The mistrial also disappointed prosecutors.
"We will seek the court's permission to retry the case and begin
immediately to prepare for a retrial," prosecutor Steve Cooley said
in a statement. A hearing was set for Oct. 3.
Prosecutors had charged Spector under a second-degree murder
theory that did not require premeditation or intent.
They called women from his past who claimed he threatened them
with guns when they tried to leave his presence, and a chauffeur
who testified that on the fateful morning Spector came out of his
home with a gun in hand and said, "I think I killed somebody,"
while Clarkson's body sat slumped in a foyer chair behind him.
The defense countered with a scientific case, suggesting Spector
did not fire the gun and offering forensic evidence that she killed
herself — either intentionally or by accident. Gunshot residue on
her hands, blood spatter on his coat and the trajectory of the
bullet were the subjects of weeks of testimony from experts.
Music producer Phil Spector
and his wife Rachelle Spector walk out of Los Angeles Superior
Court in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. (AP
photo)
Spector, 67, rose to fame in the 1960s with the "Wall of Sound"
recording technique, which revolutionized pop music. Clarkson
starred in the 1985 cult film "Barbarian Queen."
Their life stories reflected different sides of the pop culture
landscape.
The breadth of Spector's contributions to popular music in the
1960s and early 1970s was astounding. Early in his career, he
produced hits including "He's a Rebel" and "Be My Baby," which made
pop stars of the Crystals and the Ronettes.
Later, after the Beatles shelved the tapes from some of their
last recording sessions, he turned them into their final album,
1970's "Let it Be." From there, he went on to produce critically
acclaimed solo albums by John Lennon and George Harrison. He also
co-wrote and produced the Ben E. King standard "Spanish Harlem" and
the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," cited by
BMI as the most-played song in the history of American radio.
But by the time he met Clarkson, the music industry wunderkind
who struck it rich in his teens and changed the face of pop music
had aged into an eccentric, reclusive millionaire with a castle in
the suburbs.
Clarkson, 40, was an ambitious dreamer, a statuesque beauty who
idolized Marilyn Monroe and chased fame but was beaten down by
rejection. Friends testified that she was at the end of her rope
financially and humiliated by having to take a hostess job at the
House of Blues, where she met Spector.
Jurors heard of her decision to go home with Spector for a drink
after the club closed at 2 a.m. Little more than three hours later,
she was dead.
What happened in those three hours was never clear. Spector did
not testify, and prosecutors stated no motive for him to kill her
other than her apparent decision to leave the house.
No prosecution forensic expert was able to place the gun in
Spector's hands. But blood spatter on his coat and in his pants
pockets were analyzed by prosecution experts to suggest that showed
he was the shooter.
Defense experts said he stood too far away to have shot her.
Blood spatter, they said, can travel up to 6 feet.
The defendant's changing appearance during the case was a
reminder that this was a show business figure on trial. During
pretrial, Spector arrived in a stretch Hummer, his hair frizzed
out. For trial, he adopted a blond pageboy reminiscent of the early
Beatles. But his wife, who said she styled his hair, later changed
it to a short, tousled and darker look.
Rachelle Spector, 27, whose Web site says she is a singer,
songwriter and trombone player, married Spector nearly a year ago
and was with him every day of the trial.
The couple usually dressed in color-coordinated outfits. Spector
wore long, foppish frock coats with vests, colorful shirts and
ties. A diminutive figure, he always wore boots with high
Cuban-style heels. Rachelle Spector wore stiletto heels, and the
couple appeared to totter as they walked down the hall flanked by
bodyguards.
Jurors saw a different side of the couple when they visited
Spector's home for a court-supervised jury tour. The Spectors stood
silently arm in arm, dressed in casual clothes, as jurors surveyed
the scene of Clarkson's death.
In the last days of the trial, Rachelle Spector gave a TV
interview defending her husband and was scolded by the judge and
told to stop talking or face contempt charges.
On Tuesday, authorities revealed they were investigating a
posting on a "Team Spector" page on MySpace.com that said "The EVIL
Judge should DIE!!!!" and was signed "xoxo Chelle." A Spector
defense attorney said Rachelle Spector denied having anything to do
with the posting.
(Associated Press?September 27, 2007)
