Phil Spector Murder Case Going To Trial Again
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 05.23.2008
Spector headed back to court, guns blazing...
A Los Angeles judge has set a September 29th date for Phil Spector's second trial on charges that he murdered actress Lana Clarkson in the foyer of his mock castle in 2003.
The jury in Spector's first trial deadlocked 10-2 in favor of a guilty verdict in September 2007, forcing Fidler to declare a mistrial, but prosecutors immediately said they would bring the case again.
Clarkson was found dead of a gunshot to the mouth early on the morning of February 3, 2003, after Spector's driver called police to say that the record producer had killed someone. Prosecutors say Spector shot Clarkson while trying to prevent her from leaving. They called a series of witnesses to testify that Spector had a history of brandishing guns at women when he was drunk and said forensic evidence indicated that the Colt Cobra .38 special revolver went off accidentally after he jammed it in Clarkson's face.
Defense attorneys countered that Clarkson had been depressed and may have killed herself.
Spector did not take the witness stand in his own defense. He told a magazine interviewer early on in the case that Clarkson committed suicide for reasons he could not grasp.
After a five-month trial in 2007, the jury deliberated for 12 days before telling the judge that they were hopelessly deadlocked and could not reach a unanimous verdict.
