Thursday, September 27, 2007

Phil Spector. Whoa

Phil Spector's Murder Trial Declared Mistrial

Photo by Gabriel Bouys / AP

After about five months of testimony, the trial of legendary "Wall of Sound" producer Phil Spector ended in a mistrial today, September 26, according to an AP report.

Spector is charged with second-degree murder for the gun death of actress Lana Clarkson four-and-a-half years ago, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler declared the case a mistrial after each juror told him they were unable to reach a verdict.

Fidler made the decision on the 12th day of deliberations, and the foreman of the nine-man, three-woman jury revealed that there was a 10-2 deadlock without specifying which way they were leaning.

So far, there has been no talk of a retrial.

Also related to the trial-- though apparently not factoring into the decision to declare a mistrial-- is authorities' investigation into a possible threat to Fidler made via a post to a "Team Spector" MySpace page.

The post said, "I love Phil Spector" and "The Evil Judge should DIE!!!!." It was signed "xoxo Chelle"-- a reference to Spector's wife Rachelle-- and later taken down, according to Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini.

Christopher Plourd, one of Spector's defense attorneys, denied Rachelle Spector's involvement in the incident.

A few weeks ago, Fidler and Rachelle Spector clashed over her communication with the media about the case outside of court, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

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