The Phil Spector trial ended on April 13, 2009, when a Los Angeles jury convicted the record producer of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson. It took two trials to get there. The first ended in a hung jury in September 2007; the second produced a unanimous guilty verdict and a sentence of 19 years to life in state prison.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011
The Shooting at Pyrenees Castle
Lana Clarkson was a 40-year-old actress working as a hostess at the House of Blues in West Hollywood when Spector met her on the night of February 1, 2003. In the early hours of February 3, Spector’s chauffeur, Adriano De Souza, drove the two to Spector’s hilltop estate in Alhambra.
Roughly two hours later, De Souza saw Spector step out of the rear entrance holding a handgun. According to De Souza’s testimony, Spector said, “I think I killed somebody.”2VOA News. Phil Spector’s Driver Provides Damaging Testimony During Murder Trial De Souza drove out of the estate, called Spector’s assistant, and then dialed 911. Officers found Clarkson slumped in a chair in the foyer with a single fatal gunshot wound to the mouth. Spector was arrested, posted one million dollars in bail, and remained free during the years prosecutors spent building the case.
The 2007 Mistrial
The first trial opened in April 2007 before Judge Larry Paul Fidler. Prosecutors charged Spector with second-degree murder under California Penal Code Section 187, which defines murder as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.3Justia. California Code Penal Code 187-199 Their theory was that Spector shot Clarkson when she tried to leave, consistent with a long history of pulling firearms on women who attempted to walk out on him.
De Souza’s account was the most direct evidence. Prosecutors backed it with blood spatter on Spector’s white dinner jacket and gunshot residue on his hands. The defense argued the shooting was self-inflicted, describing Clarkson as depressed about her stalled career, and challenged De Souza’s reliability by pointing to inconsistencies in his statements.
The trial ran about five months. After weeks of deliberation, jurors reported a 7-5 split in favor of conviction, short of the unanimity California requires. Judge Fidler declared a mistrial, and the district attorney’s office announced it would try the case again.
The Forensic Fight
The physical evidence was contested on nearly every point. The prosecution’s experts identified impact spatter on the lower left cuff of Spector’s white dinner jacket, indicating the fabric was pointed toward Clarkson’s mouth when the gun fired. Separate transfer stains on the front panels suggested a bloody hand had opened or closed the jacket after the shot.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011 Together, prosecutors argued, the stains placed Spector within arm’s reach at the moment of the gunshot and showed he handled the clothing or the body afterward.
Defense experts said the blood could have reached the jacket in other ways. Gunshot residue on Spector’s hands added another layer: the particles were consistent with recently firing a gun, but also with handling one shortly after it discharged.
The weapon was a snub-nosed .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver found near Clarkson’s feet. Ballistics showed the bullet entered her mouth and lodged in her spine. Prosecutors argued the angle was consistent with someone else forcing the gun into her mouth; the defense called it consistent with a self-inflicted wound and offered biomechanical analysis suggesting no struggle had occurred.
The Henry Lee Dispute
One of the sharpest disputes involved Dr. Henry Lee, a prominent forensic scientist who testified for the defense. Prosecutors accused Lee of recovering a small white object at the scene, which they believed was a piece of a torn acrylic fingernail, and failing to turn it over. If the object was a nail fragment, it could have supported the theory that Clarkson fought back. Judge Fidler found that Lee had recovered an unidentified object and never presented it to the state. Lee denied any wrongdoing. At the second trial, prosecutors used videotaped portions of Lee’s earlier testimony against the defense.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011
The Women Who Testified About Spector’s Past
The most consequential evidentiary ruling let jurors hear from women Spector had threatened with guns over the previous three decades. California Evidence Code Section 1101 generally bars using character evidence to prove conduct on a specific occasion, but permits prior acts to prove motive, intent, or a common plan.4Justia. California Code Evidence Code 1100-1109 – Evidence of Character, Habit, or Custom Judge Fidler ruled the exception applied.
Five women testified to strikingly similar encounters. Dianne Ogden said that in 1989, when she tried to leave Spector’s home around midnight, he pushed a gun into her body and forced her to his bedroom, where she lay beside him until he fell asleep. She described another occasion when Spector chased her to her car with an Uzi. Dorothy Melvin, a former girlfriend, testified that after Spector pulled a gun on her, she never saw him alone again. Stephanie Jennings recounted a similar confrontation when she tried to leave. Other witnesses described comparable incidents spanning the 1970s through the 1990s.
The defense argued the accounts were too old and too different to be relevant. Fidler ruled the probative value outweighed the prejudice, and the appellate court later upheld the ruling under what it called the “doctrine of chances,” reasoning that the number of nearly identical incidents made it improbable that this time the woman rather than Spector was the one who reached for the gun.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011 That framework gave jurors a way to read the ambiguous forensics against a long pattern of armed threats.
The 2009 Conviction
The retrial began in late October 2008, same judge, new jury. Both sides largely stuck to their earlier presentations, but the prosecution refined its approach. Jurors watched videotaped testimony from a woman, since deceased, who had described being held at gunpoint by Spector on two occasions, along with the recording of De Souza’s 911 call.
Deliberations took roughly 30 hours, far less than the weeks it took the first jury. On April 13, 2009, the panel returned a unanimous guilty verdict for second-degree murder and separately found that Spector had personally used a firearm in committing the crime, triggering a sentencing enhancement.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011
Sentence and Appeals
On May 29, 2009, Judge Fidler imposed the maximum available sentence of 19 years to life: 15 years to life for second-degree murder plus a four-year enhancement under California Penal Code Section 12022.5 for personally using a firearm.5California Legislative Information. California Code, Penal Code PEN 12022.5 That statute allows an enhancement of three, four, or ten years; Fidler chose the middle term. He remarked that the taking of an innocent life “doesn’t get any more serious than that” and noted Spector’s two prior firearms-related convictions from the 1970s.
Spector’s lawyers appealed on several grounds: admission of the prior-misconduct testimony, use of videotaped testimony from the first trial, admission of “generic threat” evidence about his state of mind, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument, where the prosecutor told jurors the defense had “bought” a scientist to present absurd conclusions. In May 2011, the California Court of Appeal rejected every argument and affirmed the conviction, finding the evidence properly admitted and the prosecutor’s remarks fair comment on expert credibility.1FindLaw. People v. Spector 2011 The California Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court both declined further review.
Lana Clarkson’s mother, Donna Clarkson, also filed a wrongful death suit. The parties reached a confidential settlement in early 2012.
Death in Custody
Spector served his sentence at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton. On January 16, 2021, at age 81, he was pronounced dead at an outside hospital. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported the cause as natural causes, and later reporting indicated complications from COVID-19 contributed.6CDCR. Inmate Phillip Spector Dies of Natural Causes He had served roughly twelve years of the 19-to-life term.