LOS ANGELES -- More than four years after an actress was shot to death at Phil Spector's hilltop mansion, a jury must decide whether the music producer murdered her. Opening statements in Spector's trial were scheduled for Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the makeup of the jury sparked a last-minute legal dispute when prosecutors claimed the defense was systematically removing women through challenges. A judge disagreed and an alternate panel of four men and two women was chosen.
The regular jury, sworn in last week, has nine men and three women.
Spector, 67, a legendary music producer whose "Wall of Sound" recording technique transformed the sounds of rock and roll in the 1960s, lives in a rambling castle-like mansion in suburban Alhambra. It was there that he took Lana Clarkson on Feb. 3, 2003. She wound up dead in the foyer with a gunshot through her mouth.
Clarkson, 40, best known for her role in the Roger Corman 1980s cult classic "Barbarian Queen," had gone home with Spector from her job as a nightclub hostess. He met her hours before she died.
A chauffeur who drove the pair to Spector's mansion has told of hearing a gunshot and seeing Spector emerge from the house holding a gun and declaring, "I think I killed somebody." Spector later said he believed the shooting was an "accidental suicide" by Clarkson.
It took about eight months of investigation before authorities charged Spector with murder. They are proceeding on a theory of "implied malice," alleging he did not intend to kill Clarkson but caused her death by reckless behavior and taking an extreme risk.
If convicted of second-degree murder, he could face 15 years to life in prison.
