The fate of legendary rock producer Phil Spector will soon be in the hands of a Los Angeles County jury. Today the prosecution is expected to complete its rebuttal to the defense team’s closing arguments, which began on Tuesday.
Spector’s attorneys urged the jury to acquit their client on the grounds that the alleged victim, actress Lana Clarkson, probably committed suicide. Clarkson was found shot to death in the hallway of Spector’s Alhambra mansion in 2003. The prosecution claims an enraged Spector pulled the trigger of the .38 Special that killed the 40-year-old actress.
However, in his summation, Defense Attorney Doron Weinberg told the jurors more than a dozen pieces of forensic evidence point to Spector’s innocence. Weinberg said the big question is did the prosecution prove its case “… beyond a reasonable doubt?” Indeed, that is the key question the jury will have to answer during deliberations.
In 2007, the jury in the 69-year-old Spector’s first murder trial deadlocked 10-to-2 for a conviction, so a mistrial was declared. In the retrial, the music producer faces a minimum of 18 years in prison if found guilty of second degree murder, two-to-four years if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
