Phil Spector Sentenced to 19 Years to Life for Clarkson Murder

[Janice]

Phil Spector Sentenced to 19 Years to Life for Clarkson Murder

Spector, 69, looked straight forward and showed no emotion as Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ordered a term of 15 years to life for second-degree murder plus four years for personal use of a gun.

Clarkson's mother, Donna, made a brief statement before sentencing, speaking of her daughter's fine qualities, sense of humor, intelligence and dedication to her craft of acting.

"I'm very proud of Lana, proud to be her mother," Donna Clarkson said. She added, "No one should suffer the loss of a child."

The judge also ordered Spector to pay $16,811 in funeral expenses, $9,740 to a state victims' restitution fund and other fees.

Spector, dressed in his customary dark pinstripe suit with a red silk tie, was led away immediately. His attorney asked that he be transferred immediately from county jail to a state prison. It was not immediately known to which prison Spector would be assigned.

Spector gained fame decades ago for what became known as the "Wall of Sound" recording technique that changed rock music.

Clarkson was most famous as the star of Roger Corman's 1985 cult film classic "Barbarian Queen." She was 40 when she died.

Spector's young wife, who is in her late 20s, attended the sentencing.
"This is a sad day for everybody involved," Rachelle Spector said. "The Clarkson family has lost a daughter and a sister. I've lost my husband, my best friend. I feel that a grave injustice has been done and from this day forward I'm going to dedicate myself to proving my husband's innocence."
Spector's son Louis, accompanied by his wife, also came to the sentencing. He had attended much of the trial.

"I'm torn about this," he said. "I'm losing my father who is going to spend his life in jail. At the same time, justice is served."

Spector's lawyer said Thursday that his client has been enduring jail by focusing on his appellate prospects.

"He's doing fairly well," said Doron Weinberg. "He's adjusting to the circumstances and settling down to wait out an appeal with high hopes. He feels he will win the appeal."

Spector had two trials with essentially the same evidence. His first in 2007 was televised gavel to gavel and spectators flocked to the courtroom. But when the jury deadlocked after a five-month trial, his legal "dream team," which at times numbered half a dozen lawyers, bailed out.

By the time the second trial started in 2008, interest had waned. The judge ordered cameras turned off and only a handful of spectators and reporters stopped in sporadically to watch testimony.

During jury selection, only a few panelists remembered Spector's heyday as producer of teen anthems including "To Know Him is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears, The Ronette's "Be My Baby," The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and The Righteous Brothers' classic, "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'." Spector also worked on a Beatles album with John Lennon.

Ironically, Clarkson didn't know Spector's music legacy either when she met him only hours before she died at his Alhambra "castle" in February 2003. She was working as a hostess at the House of Blues nightclub on the Sunset Strip, where she had to be told by a manager that Spector was an important man.

His time had passed. Clarkson's career also was ebbing. Their fateful meeting, recounted in both trials, led to her death and the end of his life as he knew it. For the next six years he spent millions of dollars on lawyers as he sought to prove that Clarkson killed herself.

But what had happened inside his house was never clear. Clarkson's body was found slumped in a chair in a foyer. A gun had been fired in her mouth. Spector's chauffeur, the key witness, said he heard a gunshot, then saw Spector emerge holding a gun and heard him say: "I think I killed somebody."

Weinberg said forensic evidence proved that Clarkson shot herself and cited her desperation at not being able to get acting work. Jackson said the shooting fit the pattern of other confrontations between Spector and women, and Do said Spector would become "a demonic maniac" when he drank.

Much of the case hinged on the testimony of five women from Spector's past who said he threatened them with guns when they tried to leave his presence. The parallels with the night Clarkson died were chilling even if the stories were very old — 31 years in one instance.

Weinberg said Spector's appeal will assert that the judge erred in allowing the women to testify.

[Nighthawk76]

I think it is safe to say that he got what he deserved.

[80sTrivia]

Glad to see justice has finally been served. He should die in prison, as he deserves...

[Cactus Jack]

Next Headline: Phil Spector Excused From Jail When His Hair Didnt Fit In Cell

[Nighthawk76]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Next Headline: Phil Spector Excused From Jail When His Hair Didnt Fit In Cell

[Doodyville10019]

OK, my fellow (and sister) SO'ers, that article has caught me at my most cynical - and my most toxic.

I'd like to ask prosecutor Jackson one question (which he did not answer in that article) - why is following the laws so key to life? It's not like anyone really enjoys life per se these days with all the unemployment and bankruptcies going on all around us, not to mention an ongoing war that no one asked for. No one gets rowdy and excited anymore; most people are too busy focusing on having and raising (and overprotecting) children - if anything, most people today are more or less "victims of life" rather than "victims of themselves" (or others). My point to the prosecutor is this: if you want me to follow YOUR laws, make it worth my time - make it worth my while. There's simply got to be more to it than just staying out of jail.

[JamesG]

Phil Spector Sentenced to 19 Years to Life in Prison
Today 12:10 PM PDT by Gina Serpe

He didn't get the maximum sentence, but Phil Spector may be spending the rest of his life behind bars regardless.

The 69-year-old Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-sanctioned music producer was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison today for the February 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

It's the same amount of time prosecutors were seeking for the man whose trademark Wall of Sound backed bands from the Ronettes to the Righteous Brothers to the Beatles.



In addition to the mandatory 15-year sentence carried by his second-degree murder conviction, he was also looking at an additional 10 years for the "enhanced" charge of using his own gun to kill the B-movie queen. However, last week Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson recommended a consecutive four-year term, bringing Spector's mandatory minimum to 19 years behind bars.

And if you do the math, Spector can count on being behind bars until at least 2028.

Spector's defense had sought a maximum of 18 years.

In addition to the prison time, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ordered Spector to pay $16,811 in funeral expenses and $9,740 to a victim restitution fund.

Prior to Spector's sentencing, Clarkson's mother made a brief statement.

"I'm very proud of Lana, proud to be her mother," Donna Clarkson said. "No one should suffer the loss of a child."

Spector was found guilty April 13 of second-degree murder of the Barbarian Queen star and has been held in police custody since that time. Fidler declined to allow the producer to stay free on bail pending his appeal due to his "pattern of violence" with firearms.

The 40-year-old Clarkson was found slumped dead in the foyer of Spector's Southern California mansion with a gunshot wound in her mouth. Spector had long claimed she committed suicide, with his lawyer Doron Weinberg maintaining in court papers filed as recently as Wednesday that "he did not kill Lana Clarkson, and he is not responsible for her death."



The guilty verdict was the first conviction but second trial for Spector. The first jury to hear his case deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting him back in 2007.

It's unclear at which facility Spector will serve his time in, though his attorney has already requested an immediate transfer from county jail to state prison.

(Originally published on May 29, 2009 at 11:39 a.m. PT)

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b126...mdb_topstories

[Brad Russ]

Goofy looking bastard got what he deserved. On another note, can you imagine what his hair would have looked like had he gotten the death penalty? Wonder if it would have had the opposite effect, and came out all combed, and nice looking?

[ABlairican Pie]

Yeah, like they say, he's gonna appeal and has every right to, but there have been stories that he hasn't been the "Teddy Bear" he's wanted to make himself out to be. His abuse of his wife Ronnie Spector back in the day was very well known, and his mental stability has always been in question. In the 80's, members of the Ramones claimed that he would very fidgety when they simply folded a piece of paper with a list of songs and things he wrote on it. They also alleged that he held a gun on them! Spector was absolutely obsessive-compulsive and did things like forcing Johnny Ramone to play the opening chords to "Rock n' Roll High School" hundreds of times. The band left completely frustrated and the resulting album, 'End of the Century', ended up costing over $700,000 to record due to Spector's incessant finagling with the producing. Even though the Ramones were one of the most influential punk bands in music, they didn't have that kind of money that most other major bands could afford. They were pretty much low-budget. It's amazing that they were able to finish the album at all.

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by Little Mel

Goofy looking bastard got what he deserved. On another note, can you imagine what his hair would have looked like had he gotten the death penalty? Wonder if it would have had the opposite effect, and came out all combed, and nice looking?

Also, below, Phil Spector displays his legendary "Wall of Hair" production technique:



I've mentioned this before, but here is a "Separated at birth?" entry:

Phil Spector and Hair Bear, in the center, from early 1970's Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch!":

[Sharop]

Originally Posted by Little Mel

Goofy looking bastard got what he deserved. On another note, can you imagine what his hair would have looked like had he gotten the death penalty? Wonder if it would have had the opposite effect, and came out all combed, and nice looking?

Did you know that he did some work with John Lennon in the early 1970s? I think the two of them got along, but John did get the impression then that Phil Spector was quite eccentric.

[catlover79]

[Brad Russ]

Originally Posted by Sharop

Did you know that he did some work with John Lennon in the early 1970s? I think the two of them got along, but John did get the impression then that Phil Spector was quite eccentric.

Yep, I was aware of that. People thought he was eccentric back then, now they know he was just downright insane.

[browneyes106]

I also heard read somewhere that Phil Spector is bipolar that could be the reason he is appealing.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Little Mel

Yep, I was aware of that. People thought he was eccentric back then, now they know he was just downright insane.

You should read Ronnie Spector's (born Veronica Bennett) book Be My Baby. It's nothing short of a miracle she was able to get out of Phil's grasp. She remarried a wonderful man in 1982 and is still with him today. I always wondered why she kept the name Spector after the divorce, even as a stage name. Why would she want to keep ANYthing of his after the way he treated her?