Phil Spector could see lesser murder charge
AFP
Jurors in music titan Phil Spector's murder retrial can consider a lesser involuntary manslaughter offense instead of second-degree murder for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, a judge ruled Friday.
At a hearing preceding closing arguments, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler said he was "mandated under the law" to give the 12 jurors the option, despite the protests of Spector's attorney Doron Weinberg who called the ruling "absolutely erroneous."
B-movie actress Clarkson died at age 40 of a gunshot wound at Spector's Alhambra mansion in eastern Los Angeles. The record producer has long been a suspect in her death but his attorneys say Clarkson committed suicide.
The option of a lesser charge had not been provided to the first jury in Spector's previous trial, also presided by Fidler.
The jury had been deadlocked 10 to two in September 2007, with the majority in favor of convicting Spector of second-degree murder.
The court launched a new trial in late October 2008. On Monday, attorneys are scheduled to begin their closing arguments.
Spector, still free six years after the alleged murder thanks to a million-dollar bail, is considered a rock-and-roll genius for having invented the "wall of sound" technique in the 1960s, which he used for artists like John Lennon, the Righteous Brothers and the Ronettes.
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