Phil Spector's Murder Trial Ends In a Mistrial

Let's hope this does not become another OJ Simpson scenario.


"The murder trial of music producer Phil Spector ended today in a mistrial after the jury, leaning heavily to convict him, could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said it planned to retry the case.

Mr. Spector, 67, charged with second-degree murder in the 2003 killing of a struggling actress in his home, stared blankly forward as Judge Larry Paul Fidler of Superior Court ended the proceedings after the jury foreman reported a 10-to-2 deadlock.

The impasse came after an earlier deadlock of 7-to-5, which jurors later said also tilted toward conviction, that lead the judge to take the unusual step of sending jurors back to deliberate with new instructions, infuriating the defense.

Three jurors, speaking to reporters afterward, said the two holdouts gave credence to defense claims that the death may have been a suicide rather than a murder. Jurors at various points, they said, also had been troubled by the lack of large amounts of blood on Mr. Spector and the poor English of a witness who said he heard Mr. Spector emerge from his house and say “I think I killed somebody.”" |Red more|