The Continuing Saga of Phil Spector

March 16, 2009

By now most readers who follow crime stories and court cases know that the first trial of legendary record producer Phil Spector, 69, accused of murdering struggling B-movie actress Lana Clarkson, who was 40-years-old at the time of her death, ended in a hung jury on September 26, 2007.  Clarkson, of course, who was perhaps best known for her part as Amethea in the cult Roger Corman movie Barbarian Queen, was found dead in the entrance hall of Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California on February 3, 2003, with a gunshot wound to her mouth. 

Although Spector claims that Clarkson killed herself, prosecutors contend that Spector shot her.  They attempted to bolster their contention by citing that he has a history of gunplay that included using a gun to threaten and/or intimidate others.  They have also said that he has a history of drunkenness which, of course, is one explanation or excuse for the gunplay.  Nonetheless the eccentric Spector, who has worked with such rock and roll artists as John Lennon, Tina Turner, the Beach Boys, the Crystals, and the Ronettes, to name but a few, has been free on $1 million bail since shortly after being charged with second-degree murder in the case.
 
According to details that were presented in the first trial, Spector met Clarkson the night before she was killed at the House of Blues in Los Angeles where she was working as a hostess.  They went to Spector's home, which had become known as the "Pyrenees Castle" because it looked like a castle, constructed in 1926 as a replica of a chateau in Southern France.  The home has 10 bedrooms, eight bathrooms, crystal chandeliers, red carpeting and red velvet draperies.  There are also two suits of armor in the foyer, and a coat of arms that hangs over a large fireplace. The next morning Clarkson was dead, slumped in a bloodstained chair in the foyer of Spector's mansion, with the suits of armor standing at attention nearby.

Spector's first trial lasted five months, and was presided over by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler.  Like the author Truman Capote, who in his later years-and possibly because of his affinity for the drink-cheerfully displayed his contempt for the ways of the establishment by sometimes showing up in court on DUI charges in Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirts-Spector would appear in court with outrageous hairstyles, his hair sometimes in a perm (or a wig) and frizzed to many times the normal size of his head.  What it was that he was trying to say, if anything, is known only to Spector, but it made for great news photographs.

During the first trial, Spector's legal team accused the judge of being biased against their client, and argued that many of Fidler's decisions or rulings were contrived or made to make certain that prosecutors obtained a conviction.  The judge, of course, denied the allegations and refused to remove himself from the proceedings, including the retrial.  When the first trial ended in a hung jury, Spector proclaimed the decision a success.  Prosecutors, however, felt differently and promptly announced that Spector would be retried.  Spector ended up replacing the first defense team with a new one, and the matter involving Fidler was reviewed by the California Supreme Court.  Fidler, however, was allowed to continue as the judge in the case.
 
At one point during the first trial, prosecutors contended that Spector's chauffeur had purportedly overheard Spector say, "I think I killed somebody."  The statement apparently was made while an outdoor courtyard fountain was running, which the defense team used to argue that the chauffeur was mistaken about what he had heard Spector say because of the "ambient" sound of the fountain.  The fountain would continue to be an issue in the second trial while a new jury tried to decide whether Spector had shot and killed Clarkson or whether she had taken her own life after perhaps becoming despondent over her failed movie career.  At a hearing to set a new trial date, Spector showed up wearing a large button that read, "Obama Rocks."

Spector and his defense team went for the big guns with regard to hiring expert witnesses during the first trial.  Among those hired was forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, who also worked on the O.J. Simpson murder trial.  However, the judge decided that Lee's work on the Spector case was questionable.  More specifically, Lee had been accused of retrieving an object, tiny and white, from the scene of Clarkson's death, and was accused by the prosecutors of failing to provide it to them—whatever it was, if anything.  They speculated that it might have been a segment of a fingernail, or something that could help them prove their case.  Nonetheless, Lee washed his hands with the case.

"I refuse to participate in the case," Lee said.  He further stated that no one was "interested in the facts and the truth," and said that he had returned to teaching law enforcement personnel the techniques of evidence collection.

In February 2009, during a portion of Spector's retrial, another scientist, James Pex, was accused by prosecutors of perjuring himself when he testified about bloodstains, prompting the judge to read Pex his rights while he was on the witness stand.  The defense retorted by arguing that the prosecution had resorted to attacking the scientists when they were unable to dispute the scientific evidence being presented.  Pex, however, indicated that he was confident in his testimony, and said that he did not need a lawyer.  The case was perhaps even more unusual than many of its kind because there were no eyewitnesses to the events that had transpired inside Spector's home during the timeframe that Clarkson was there—supposedly Spector and Clarkson were alone inside the house.

When the jury toured Spector's home during the second trial, they were able to view the chair-bloodstains and all-where Clarkson had died, a key piece of evidence that the first jury did not get to view.  During the tour, as much as possible was recreated to depict the morning when Clarkson's body had been discovered.  Jurors were led through the home, guided by large photographs that had been placed on easels that clearly depicted the scene when the actress's body was found including a photograph of her corpse slumped in the chair in the foyer.  The tour was restricted to the foyer, living room, and one of the bathrooms.  Great care was also taken to recreate the position of the limousine-with the fountain running-the morning that Spector left the house with the defense attempting to show that the chauffeur may have been mistaken about what he had heard Spector say that morning.  The jurors were obviously focusing on the sound of the fountain and the noise of the air conditioning that had been running inside the limo, as well as other outdoor sounds, and making comparisons about whether the chauffeur could have clearly heard any statements made by Spector.  Some jurors stood near the home's entrance, while others huddled near the limousine in an apparent test of sorts to determine how easily the statement of someone exiting the home could be heard by someone near the car or even inside it.

The chauffeur, however, had previously testified that he had been sitting inside the limousine when Spector exited the mansion that fateful morning, and had seen Spector emerge from the house only moments after the shooting had occurred, holding a gun in a blood-covered hand as he said, "I think I killed somebody."  The chauffeur had also testified to being tired that morning.

Although the defense rested its case on Thursday, March 12, 2009, the trial is expected to continue through the end of the month, with prosecutors calling rebuttal witnesses.  If convicted of second-degree murder, Spector would face 15-to-18 years in prison.

Photo Credits: Associated Press

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Comments

[SD Mittelsteadt]

Man.....its so difficult to know what to believe in these high profile celebrity murder cases, but come one.....the ambient sound of the fountain????

I think we need a new law.....if it quacks like a celebrity murder, and walks like a celebrity murder, then it IS a celebrity murder!!

It would have put OJ behind bars years ago.

[shesmyma]

During the last trial, I had one doubt that I could not get past. I found it hard to believe that anyone would voluntarily allow a person to place a gun in her mouth. Testimony showed that the teeeth were blown out with the explosion and not forced inward by the gun entering the mouth. I don't know if this was explained in the 2nd trial but if not I would have reasonable doubt.

[cecilia]

ah these people are creepy the body's in the frezzer im glad im not her child!!! =}

[edina monsoon]

This is a travesty of justice--this guy should be sitting in a prison cell....he han't served one DAY in jail, and she's dead SIX YEARS....,there DEFINITELY is not equal justice under the law....

[gw]

He's a sick, crazy dude who goes nuts when he drinks and this time, it allegedly resulted in killing Lana. Simple as that. I don't care which way the teeth flew...I think he stuck the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.