PHIL SPECTOR MURDER TRIAL JUDGE DECLARES MISTRIAL IN CASE JURY WAS DEADLOCKED 10-2 IN FAVOR OF CONVICTION D.A. VOWS TO RETRY CELEBRITY.

Byline: TONY CASTRO

Staff Writer

Pop music pioneer Phil Spector, whose Hollywood tenure has long been checkered with trouble, found himself at the heart of yet another controversy Wednesday when the jury in his murder trial deadlocked for a second time.

The 10-2 impasse, in favor of conviction, came on the 12th day of deliberations and was seen by some court observers as a victory for the 67- year-old music producer charged with murdering actress Lana Clarkson. If he'd been convicted of second-degree murder, Spector faced 15 years to life in prison.

It also capped an extraordinary final week and a half in which Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler gave some interesting jury instructions and became the target of an online death threat.

"I'm very, very sorry," prosecutor Alan Jackson whispered to a visibly unhappy Donna Clarkson, Lana's mother, moments after a mistrial was declared.

District Attorney Steve Cooley immediately announced that his office will retry Spector in the February 2003 shooting death of Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion. Fidler set an Oct. 3 meeting with lawyers to decide the next step.

"We will not rest until justice is done," said John C. Taylor, attorney for Clarkson's family.

But interviews with a handful of jurors after the announcement raised the possibility that the prosecution's star witness -- Spector's chauffeur -- may have actually hurt the case.

Adriano De Souza, the chauffeur and a Brazilian national, testified to seeing Spector come out of his mansion holding a gun in his bloody hand. De Souza said Spector told him, "I think I killed somebody."

Three members of the jury said De Souza's language difficulties bothered them. Defense lawyers also noted that De Souza had told police, "I think -- I'm not sure, it's my English" just hours after the shooting.

Jurors also said the defense forensic expert's psychological profile of Clarkson -- which portrayed her as possibly suicidal -- was pivotal.

One juror intimated that Spector's celebrity and wealth also may have played a role in raising reasonable doubt in the two jurors who voted for acquittal.

Jurors speak out

Jurors remained anonymous in their discussions with reporters Wednesday, just as they have throughout the trial.

"The defense put enough out there, and it stuck," said the jury foreman, who filled more than a dozen notebooks during the trial but would not disclose how he voted.

"He got to buy some experts," said yet another juror, who said he voted for conviction and said Spector's money had provided a lavish defense.

USC law professor Rebecca Lonergan said Spector's celebrity and wealth allowed him to pay for a team of lawyers and a bevy of experts to draw out his murder trial nearly five months.

The lengthy trial's battle of conflicting expert witnesses -- and Fidler's unusual jury instructions that he later withdrew and amended -- helped further conditions that made a deadlocked jury nearly inevitable, Lonergan said.

"All (the defense) has to do ... is raise some doubt in a few jurors' minds and, voila, you've got a hung jury," Lonergan said.

6 ballots counted

In six ballots, the jury of nine men and three women crept toward a guilty verdict. The first ballot had four votes for conviction; eight days ago it was 7-5 for conviction when jurors told Fidler they were at an impasse.

At the time, jurors said they were confused by a special jury instruction drafted by Spector's lawyers and issued by Fidler as deliberation instructions.

Fidler then took the unusual step of withdrawing the special instruction, admitting he had erred and raising speculation that the judge's attempt to avoid a deadlocked jury could put any conviction at risk of being overturned.

USC law professor Michael Brennan, an expert in criminal-defense cases, was among the experts who believe Fidler's special instructions and attempt to clarify those instructions -- filled with scenarios on how Clarkson may have died -- were a major issue for the jury.

"I've never had a judge instruct (a jury) on possible scenarios that could result in a guilty verdict," Brennan said. "I'm not saying it hasn't been done before, but it's certainly not usual."

Brennan said he thinks jurors were confused by both the initial instruction and the clarification that followed.

"That didn't undo the problem," Brennan said.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, authorities began investigating an apparent threat on Fidler's life posted on the Team Spector MySpace.com Web site.

It was signed "Chelle," but Spector's lawyers deny that his wife, Rachelle, had anything to do with the posting.

Flashing peace signs

On Wednesday, Spector -- resplendent in a navy pinstripe suit with a red tie -- sat expressionless as Fidler declared the mistrial. He will remain free on $1 million bail.

But the mood was different when Phil and Rachelle Spector arrived back at his mansion. Television news helicopters caught images of them waving and flashing peace signs and of the 27-year-old Rachelle dancing next to her husband.

For Spector, an eccentric music producer once known as a boy genius in the recording industry, the jury impasse was tantamount to one step toward becoming the latest showbiz star who has escaped conviction in a major criminal case in modern times.

But haunted by the acquittal trials of such celebrities as O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake and Michael Jackson, prosecutors wound up frustrated in failing to convict Spector despite what was generally considered a strong case in court.

History of threats

Prosecutors had portrayed Spector as an egomaniac with a long history of gun threats against women, saying he stuck a snub-nose .38-caliber revolver in Clarkson's face when she tried to leave his home.

Clarkson, 40, whose biggest role as a B-movie actress was the Roger Corman cult film "Barbarian Queen," was found slumped in a chair in the foyer of Spector's home just hours after he had picked her up from the House of Blues club where she had been working as a VIP hostess for less than a month.

The Spector case, which was carried on television and the Internet, was the first televised murder trial of a celebrity since Simpson's 1995 acquittal in the killing of his ex-wife and her friend.

Simpson's acquittal and that of actor Blake in last year's trial in the shooting death of his wife had led to criticism from television commentators that prosecutors in Los Angeles were unable or star-struck local jurors weren't willing to send famous celebrities to prison.

Fidler even said one of the reasons he permitted the trial to be televised was to dispel the idea that justice in Los Angeles is dispensed unfairly.

Prosecutors now have the option of retrying Spector, offering him a plea bargain or dropping the case.

In addition to a possible new criminal trial, Spector faces a civil trial. Clarkson's family has filed a civil lawsuit claiming Spector was responsible for Lana Clarkson's death.

Spector, who produced music for John Lennon, Ike and Tina Turner and the Ramones, became famous within the industry for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique, which made him a leading producer of rock music in the 1960s and '70s.

Staff Writer Rick Coca contributed to this report.

tony.castro(at)dailynews.com

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Chronology

A timeline of the Phil Spector murder case:

2003

FEB. 3: Actress Lana Clarkson dies of a gunshot through the mouth at Spector's Alhambra mansion. He is booked on suspicion of murder and released on $1 million bail.

MARCH 11: Sheriff's officials discount suicide. Spector sends an e-mail to friends calling the shooting "an accidental suicide."

JUNE 4: Spector tells Esquire magazine: "She kissed the gun. I have no idea why."

SEPT. 22: Coroner rules the death a homicide.

NOV. 20: Spector is charged with murder and pleads not guilty.

2004

AUG. 24: New York lawyer Bruce Cutler takes over defense after first team is fired and second team resigns.

SEPT. 27: Spector is indicted on a murder charge.

2005

FEB. 3: Clarkson's mother sues Spector, alleging wrongful death.

2007

MARCH 19: Jury selection begins.

APRIL 24: Jury selection completed with seating of alternates.

APRIL 25: Opening statements begin.

AUG. 27: Cutler, often absent from the trial to tape a TV show, formally leaves the defense team.

SEPT. 7: Closing arguments end.

SEPT. 10: Jurors begin deliberations.

SEPT. 18: Jury foreman reports a 7-5 impasse.

SEPT. 20: Judge withdraws one jury instruction and issues another, and panel resumes deliberations.

SEPT. 26: Judge declares a mistrial because the jury could not reach a verdict.

-- Associated Press

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Music producer Phil Spector and his wife, Rachelle, leave the courtroom Wednesday after his nearly five-month trial ended in a deadlocked jury. Later at their home, the couple flashed peace signs.

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

(2) Phil Spector's attorney Linda Kenney Baden, center, speaks to reporters Wednesday after his trial ended in a deadlocked jury.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) The victim

A revolver went off in Lana Clarkson's mouth early Feb. 3, 2003, after Spector took her home from the nightclub where she worked. Spector was not convicted of murdering her.

(4 -- color) The judge

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler polled the jury and each member agreed that a unanimous decision was not possible.

Box:

Chronology (see text)