LA awaits Phil Spector verdict

The jury in the Phil Spector murder retrial has retired to consider whether or not he killed actress Lana Clarkson at his house six years ago. The renowned music producer, who developed the 'Wall of Sound' technique and co-wrote You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' for the Righteous Brothers, now has his fate in the hands of a bus driver, a social worker, a postal clerk and nine other jurors.
 
This second trial – the jury at the first trial were unable to reach a unanimous verdict – has lasted five months, during which Spector has cut an oddly becalmed and stoic figure in the courtroom. His defence attorneys argue that Clarkson,a B-movie actress and strip club hostess, was depressed and shot herself with his .38 Special.

The prosecution maintains that Spector has a history of threatening women with guns, and that he pulled the trigger. In her closing remarks, prosecutor Truc Do gave a theatrical account – using a photo display – of how five other women claimed to have been confronted at gunpoint by the eccentric music producer.
 
Do's co-prosecutor Alan Jackson asked the jury to imagine what they might have said to Clarkson had they seen her getting into Spector's chauffeured Mercedes-Benz after meeting him at a Sunset Boulevard strip club on the evening of February 3, 2003. "You are all thinking the same thing," Jackson said, lowering his voice to a whisper."You'd say, 'Lana, whatever you do, don't go.' "
 
When the jury retired to make their decision, Clarkson's mother, Donna, broke down in tears and hugged Jackson. If they find him guilty of second-degree murder, Spector, 69, could spend the next 18 years in prison. ·