Re: Court TV: Anyone been following the Phil Spector murder trial
JURORS in the Phil Spector murder trial are deadlocked over whether he pulled the trigger.
Judge Larry Paul Fidler informed prosecution and defence lawyers yesterday during a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court that the jury had been unable to reach a unanimous decision.
"The jurors have informed the court clerk that they are hung," Judge Fidler said.
One juror said she wanted clarification on the difference between "doubt" and "reasonable doubt".
Judge Fidler said jurors would be asked during a court appearance scheduled for today to consider convicting Spector on involuntary manslaughter charges.
The announcement of a hung jury came on the seventh day of deliberations in the high-profile case involving Spector, the legendary music producer who pioneered the famous Wall of Sound recording technique.
The 67-year-old is accused of murdering actor Lana Clarkson, 40, at his home in February 2003.
Clarkson was shot through the mouth in the the foyer of his Los Angeles mansion.
Spector, who maintained Clarkson shot herself because she was despondent over her career and finances, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, with an added 10-year penalty for use of a firearm.
The nine men and three women on the jury met yesterday for about four hours and 45 minutes.
Prior to the session starting this morning, they had met for about 27 hours since starting deliberations on September 10.
"At this time we don't believe that anything else will change the positions of the jurors based on the facts of the case," the jury foreman told Judge Fidler on the seventh day of deliberations.
The panel began hearing testimony on April 26 in a trial that produced 77 witnesses and had more than 500 exhibits submitted into evidence.
Clarkson's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Spector.
The suit will be heard after the conclusion of Spector's criminal trial if the jury reaches a verdict.
Spector and Clarkson met at a Sunset Strip music venue The House of Blues, where she was working as a $10-an-hour VIP hostess.
The famed record producer, who had spent the night on the town dining and drinking with two other women, invited Clarkson to come home with him -- and she was dead hours later.
District attorney Alan Jackson said during the trial Spector had a "rich history of violence" against women, often flying into drunken, gun-toting rages if they tried to leave his company.
No fewer than five women acquaintances of Spector testified that he had threatened them with guns in incidents dating back to the 1970s.
Spector's former chauffeur also provided damaging evidence, telling jurors that on the night of the shooting his employer had emerged from a doorway clutching a pistol in a bloodied hand to say: "I think I killed somebody".
The defence contends Clarkson was depressed about her career, but also suggested that she may have accidentally pulled the trigger.
Clarkson was best known for her starring role in the 1985 cult hit Barbarian Queen, though she had bit parts on dozens of TV shows.
Phil Spector trial limbo | Herald Sun
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