LEGENDARY MUSIC producer Phil Spector was found guilty yesterday of second degree murder in the death of a Hollywood actress at his home in 2003.
A Los Angeles jury returned the verdict against Spector (69) after a five-month retrial. Spector could spend the rest of his life behind bars after he is sentenced on May 29th. The first trial ended in a jury deadlock in September 2007.
Lana Clarkson (40) a B-movie actress, died from a shot through the mouth fired from Spectors gun in the foyer of his fake castle home on February 3rd, 2003 in the Alhambra community of Los Angeles.
The two had met only hours earlier at a Hollywood nightclub.
In the second trial, the jury was given the option of finding Spector guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter. Under California law, a decision to convict or acquit must be unanimous.
Spector, who pioneered the 1960s Wall of Sound technique and worked with The Ronettes, The Beatles, Cher and Leonard Cohen at the height of his fame, denied murdering Clarkson.
He did not testify at either trial and has been free on $1 million bail since his arrest in 2003, but he was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was read yesterday.
Prosecutors argued that the shooting of Clarkson was part of a pattern of gun play and violence toward women displayed by Spector in the past.
Spectors lawyers argued during the trial that Clarkson committed suicide while suffering from depression over her failing career.
She was working as a hostess at the House of Blues in Hollywood when she met Spector the night before she died.
She was best known as the star of 1980s B-movies Barbarian Queenand Amazon Women on the Moon. The two long trials, with testimony from five women and a jury visit to the bizarre mock castle where the reclusive Spector lives, all but obliterated his status as the production genius behind Tina Turners River Deep, Mountain Highand the Righteous Brothers hit You've Lost That Lovin Feelin.
During the trial, Spector appeared emotionless and frail, his hands often trembling. None of his old pop music friends testified in his defence.
Spector had a troubled early life. His father committed suicide, his sister spent time in mental institutions and Spector suffered bouts of severe depression.
Shortly before Clarkson was shot, Spector told British journalist Mick Brown in a rare interview that he had a bipolar personality and had devils that fight inside me.
In 2006, he quietly wed for the fourth time, marrying model/actress Rachelle Short who is about 30 years his junior.
Clarkson’s relatives were “pleased” with the verdict, their spokesman told reporters.
With the actress’s mother Donna standing by him, lawyer John Taylor said: “The family is pleased the jury rejected the distortion and trashing of Lana Clarkson’s life.”
He added: “Actions have consequences and Phil Spector has to face the consequences of his actions.
“There is no joy here today. It is a tragedy,” he said, before thanking those involved in the case.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley also gave thanks to all involved, saying: “Justice has finally been done in this case.”
In particular, he acknowledged the women who testified in the trial “to paint the picture of the real Phil Spector”
– (Reuters)
Spector: an erratic genius
PHIL SPECTOR worked with some of the biggest names of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes, Ike and Tina Turner, the Ramones and The Beatles, including John Lennon and George Harrison individually.
Spector created his Wall of Sound production style by employing large groups of musicians, sometimes using double and triple instrumentation, to create a dense sound. He once described his technique as ‘‘ a Wagnerian approach to rock n roll: little symphonies for the kids.’’
The inscription on his fathers tombstone provided the inspiration for Spectors first hit, ‘‘To Know Him Is to Love Him,’’ recorded by his group the Teddy Bears in 1958. Spectors father committed suicide.
Stories about Spector and gunplay are legendary. According to the biography ‘‘Wall of Pain,’’ he sometimes kept a gun on the studio recording console, fired a shot during an acrimonious recording session with John Lennon and pressed a pistol barrel to singer Leonard Cohens neck.
Spector played a cocaine dealer in the hippie-era movie Easy Rider. He also appeared on the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.