LAWFUEL – The music producer Phil Spector is facing the promise of a second murder trial after the first collapsed when jurors told a judge they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler declared a mistrial and dismissed jurors after they pronounced themselves hung, 10-2, on a charge of second-degree murder against Spector and saw no chance of reaching a unanimous verdict.
Prosecutors quickly vowed the legendary rock producer would face the music again at a second trial.
Spector, 67, dressed in a black suit and red tie, sat stone-faced at the defence table, flanked by his high-powered legal team, as Judge Fidler declared the mistrial.
The jury had spent 12 days deliberating accusations that Spector, credited with revolutionising pop music with his early 1960s “wall of sound” recordings, shot actor Lana Clarkson through the mouth in February 2003 at his mansion near LA.
