Legendary producer Phil Spector is seeking a reduction in his sentence for murdering actress Lana Clarkson.
Lana Clarkson was found dead in Phil Spector’s mansion in 2003. Charged with her murder, Spector argued that the actress had in fact committed suicide. The first trial against the producer collapsed after a split verdict, with Californian law requiring unanimous approval from the jury.
Phil Spector’s second murder trial got under way last year. Using an entirely new jury lawyers from the prosecution argued that Spector had killed Lana Clarkson in a murderous rage.
In one of the more controversial moments of the case, jury members were shown the scene of the crime in Spector’s house. The producer’s lawyer had protested vehemently against the move, with the prosecution arguing in turn that Spector had altered the evidence.
Earlier this year the producer was convicted of murder, and could face more than fifteen years in jail.
All this is a long way from Spector’s height as the king of pop. His ‘symphonies for kids’ matched girl groups with huge orchestral arrangements, crafting some of the most memorable singles of the early 60s.
However his later descent into paranoia is well documented. The tortuous sessions for John Lennon’s ‘Rock And Roll’ album ended with Phil Spector pulling a gun on the Beatles icon. According to legend, Lennon merely shrugged and turned around.
The producer is expected to be sentenced to 19 years to life in a court hearing today. The sentence has been broken down into the mandatory fifteen years for murder, with four years representing use of a gun.
A court document filed by Spector’s lawyer requests that this latter charge be reduced to three years, reports Billboard.
According to Spector’s lawyer Doron Weinberg “the facts proven at trial could support the conclusion that the death of Lana Clarkson resulted from an accidental discharge of the weapon during a misdemeanour brandishing”.
Weinberg also contended that the sentence will be appealed, with the producer still maintaining that Lana Clarkson killed herself.
