Phil Spector jury ready for tour of his mansion
By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press
Feb 19, 2009 5:32 AM CST
Music producer Phil Spector's house on Grand View Drive in Alhambra, Calif., is shown in this Aug. 9, 2007 file photo. For the second time in two years, a jury is going by bus to suburban Alhambra to tour this home known as "Phil Spector's Pyrenees Castle," the place where actress Lana Clarkson died...   (Associated Press)

For the second time in two years, a jury is to go by bus to suburban Alhambra to tour the mansion where actress Lana Clarkson died and where the life of music legend Phil Spector was altered forever.

The tour scheduled for Thursday is part of Spector's murder retrial, which was ordered after the judge declared a mistrial in his first case in September, 2007. The first jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction. The second trial began in October.

The 40-year-old actress died of a gunshot through the mouth while sitting in the foyer of the mansion in an ornate white chair. Several members of the first jury sat in a copy of the original chair, trying to duplicate the position of her body.

Spector's defense lawyers in both trials have suggested a despondent Clarkson shot herself.

If the second jury repeats the patterns of the first, they will focus on the sounds around the mansion, particularly a splashing fountain in the front courtyard. The prosecution tried to obtain an order for the fountain to be turned off, claiming the defense planned to turn it up to get a louder sound. But the defense established that the pump has only one speed and the sound of the fountain can't be altered.

The defense claims that Spector's chauffeur may have been mistaken when he said he saw the music producer emerge from the house and heard him say, "I think I killed somebody."

They have cited the noise of the fountain as well as the air conditioning in the car where the chauffeur had been sitting as sounds that might have obscured his ability to hear what Spector said.

Jurors are expected to see the living room where Spector is believed to have sat for drinks with Clarkson. The actress had been working as a hostess at the House of Blues where Spector met her that night and invited her back to his house. They also will see the foyer where she died.

In a marked difference from the first tour, Spector was not to be accompanied by his wife, Rachelle, when jurors arrive. As the defendant, he has the right to be present at what is considered a session of his trial. But the judge has told his wife to stay out of sight. During the first tour, the couple stood arm in arm inside the entryway watching the jurors parade through their home.

Spector, 68, the eccentric rock 'n' roll legend renowned for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Clarkson, a blonde beauty who became a 1980s cult figure following her starring role in the film "Barbarian Queen."

The new jury must decide the same question that ultimately stumped the first: Did Spector, a man known for threatening people with guns, shoot Clarkson, or did the actress, down on her luck and despondent about her future, turn a gun on herself?

Defense testimony is expected to continue next week. Attorneys have said the trial could wrap up by the end of March.