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| Spector's new def team won't be ready for trial until fall - |
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Noor
 Posted:
Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:25 am |
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Spector's new def team won't be ready for trial until fall
Spector's new defense team won't be ready for trial until fall
By LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent
Article Launched: 03/28/2008 11:13:40 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES—Phil Spector made a brief court appearance Friday in which his new lawyer said he could not be ready for the music producer's murder retrial until September at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the lawyer filed a writ with the California 2nd District Court of Appeal asking that a neutral judge be appointed to decide if Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler should be disqualified from presiding over Spector's second trial because of alleged bias against the defendant.
Fidler earlier rejected the bid to remove him, saying he was impartial in the case and that it was too late to file such a motion in any case.
Spector's attorney, Doron Weinberg, said in the writ that California law prohibits a judge from ruling on his or her own disqualification motion and the matter must be decided by a neutral judge.
He asked that all proceedings in Spector's case be stayed until the dispute is resolved.
Weinberg noted that most of Spector's defense team withdrew from the case after a jury deadlock and he filed his motion as soon as possible after he was hired for the case.
Weinberg said he has read some 10,000 pages of trial transcript, reviewed voluminous media coverage of the case and conducted further investigation including interview with jurors before filing his motion to remove Fidler.
He filed a 44-page motion last week listing numerous alleged acts of bias by the judge. They included the imposition of a gag order limited to
Spector's wife and a potential defense witness, as well as his decision to withdraw a jury instruction and craft a new one after jurors first announced they were deadlocked.
The defense alleged that Fidler wanted to counter public perceptions that celebrities were given special treatment and could not be convicted in California courts.
At Friday's court session, Fidler set another hearing for May 22, when a new trial date could be set.
Spector, 67, agreed to the delay.
Weinberg told the judge there were no discovery disputes between the defense and the prosecution. He also said he had finished reading the transcript of Spector's first trial and would probably add some experts to the witness list.
Spector's first trial ended in September 2007 when the jury deadlocked. Spector, famed for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique, is accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion on Feb. 3, 2003.
Clarkson, 40, was working as a hostess at the House of Blues when she met Spector and went home with him. The actress best known for her role in the film "Barbarian Queen" died of a gunshot fired inside her mouth while she was seated in a foyer of Spector's mansion.
At the first trial, the prosecution claimed Spector shot her and had a history of threatening women with guns; the defense argued Clarkson shot herself, either accidentally or by suicide.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8730330?nclick_check=1
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Marco
Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 5254
Location: Ohio
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| pax
Posted:
Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:34 am |
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It has always taken Phil a long time to get his productions together.
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Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
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| Heli
Posted:
Fri May 02, 2008 7:15 am |
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I'd been wondering lately when this re-trial was going to happen.
My recurrent thought to this day in this case is:
If he shot her in the mouth, why was there no blood spatter or GSR on
his coat or shirt sleeve.
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Transcription Goddess
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 23517
Location: Puffed Up DimWit
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| Noor
Posted:
Thu May 22, 2008 7:09 pm |
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New date set for Spector retrial
By LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent
Article Launched: 05/22/2008 11:11:22 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES—A judge who is waiting for a California Supreme Court decision on whether he will preside over Phil Spector's second murder trial has gone ahead and set a new trial date of Sept. 29.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said Thursday that whether he presides or another judge takes the helm a trial date is needed.
Lawyers for the music producer are challenging Fidler on grounds that he is biased against Spector.
Spector's first trial ended in September with a deadlocked jury. Spector, famed for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique, is accused of killing actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion on Feb. 3, 2003.
Fidler also set a hearing on motions for July 29.
Spector's lawyer, Doron Weinberg, said it would be a week or two before the Supreme Court makes a decision.
Clarkson, 40, best known for her role in "Barbarian Queen," was working as a hostess at the House of Blues when she met Spector and went home with him.
Spector, 69, attended Thursday's hearing with his wife, Rachelle. He was decked out in one of his signature frock-coat suits and wearing a large button on his lapel that read "Obama Rocks."
Clarkson's mother, sister and a family lawyer sat in the front row of the courtroom. They are waiting for resolution of the criminal case before they pursue a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Spector.
In its Supreme Court brief, the defense argued that Fidler's rulings toward
the end of the first trial were designed to ensure Spector's conviction, in part to counter media reports that a celebrity could not be convicted in a Los Angeles court. Fidler has denied this and turned down a bid to remove himself from the second trial.
The district attorney's office has argued Fidler was "scrupulously fair to the defendant."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9347256?nclick_check=1
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Marco
Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 5254
Location: Ohio
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