Murder trial begins for Phil Spector

[NJCher]

Anybody been following this? I can't believe Spector was so callous as to say that the victim had no right to come to his home and "...blow her f---ing head open." But oh yes indeed he said it--it was in the police statement he made after the murder.

I'm hoping CourtTV will be covering it but I looked at their page and can't tell whether they are or not. Anyway, they do have a page of links about it which I will post after this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901151_pf.html

By Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
Monday, March 19, 2007; 3:44 PM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jury selection began on Monday in the murder trial of pioneering rock producer Phil Spector, who came to court in Los Angeles sporting a new blond, Beatles-style shag and smiling broadly as he made his way past photographers.

The trial gets under way more than four years after B-movie actress Lana Clarkson was killed at Spector's faux castle outside Los Angeles on February 3, 2003, and it promises to be the biggest celebrity court case since pop star Michael Jackson's 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges.

A smiling Spector, 67, arrived at court like one of the 1960s rock stars he made his name producing -- escorted by lawyers and beefy bodyguards. He was greeted by a throng of photographers, his once-wild hair newly styled into a blond moptop reminiscent of the Beatles.

Opening statements are still more than a month away, following a lengthy jury selection process in which Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler and the lawyers will pick 12 jurors from a pool of 300 people.

Here's a link to the CourtTV page:

http://www.courttv.com/trials/spector/



Cher

[raccoon]

1. Thanks for the link.

:sigh: I guess Spector won't have a problem affording a Dream Team to defend him.

P.S. I guess there isn't a "sigh" smiley, but there should be.

[lavenderdiva]

2. I would tend to believe that Court TV will cover this trial-

right now, its in the jury selection phase, and my understanding is that this will take awhile, because of the tremendous pre-trial publicity. I think the actual trial starts some time in late April? I could be wrong on that date, but its not imminent, in any case.

[raccoon]

3. Prosecutors: Spector threatened ex-lover

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 4, 3:51 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors in the Phil Spector murder case have asked a judge to allow testimony from a one-time girlfriend who said the record producer pointed a gun at her head in two separate incidents decades ago.

In court documents filed Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney
Alan Jackson said the testimony demonstrates a "long history of gun-related violence directed at women" and should be admitted as evidence during Spector's upcoming trial on charges he killed actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003.

<snip>

Devra Robitaille, who worked at Warner Spector Records from 1974 to 1977, told investigators that one night Spector placed a shotgun or rifle against her forehead when she tried to leave the producer's home after a party.

"Spector, who was drunk, made some sort of joke and then said, `Just so you know, I'll blow your (expletive) head off' or `If you try to leave, I'll blow your (expletive) brains out,'" according to the court documents.

Robitaille told Spector to "knock that off and put that away," and he eventually let her leave.

She claims a similar incident occurred a decade later when Spector again put a gun to her head in the foyer of his home after a night of drinking. At the time, Robitaille had taken a job as Spector's part-time assistant.

An April 10 hearing was scheduled to consider the prosecution's request. Prosecutors already plan to present testimony from four other women who claim Spector threatened them with a gun.

In a separate motion, prosecutors also asked the court to admit into evidence a conversation Spector reportedly had with a retired New York City police officer at a holiday party at the home of Joan Rivers in 1995 or 1996.

Vince Tannazzo, who was working security at the party, said he was asked to escort Spector out after a commotion. While they were leaving, Tannazzo said Spector made numerous profane, disparaging and threatening remarks about women, according to the court filing.

"They all deserve to die. They all deserve a bullet in their (expletive) head," Tannazzo quoted Spector as saying. "That's why I got permits for all over. Wherever I go, I always keep a gun, because these (expletive), they're all no (expletive) good."

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_en_mo/phil_spector

[BlueIris]

4. There is no one more vile than Phil Spector.

No one. Even * can't top him.