Deadlocked Spector jury sent back to deliberate
Court Alerts
[##_1L|1262784295.jpg|width="120" height="80" alt=""|_##]The judge in the Phil Spector trial on Thursday ordered the deadlocked jury to resume deliberations on murder charges against the rock producer. Jury deliberations were suspended on Tuesday after the panel said it was split 7-5 over a verdict, without saying which way it was leaning. The panel had been deliberating for seven days.
Spector, 67, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson with a gunshot through her mouth at his Los Angeles area home in February 2003.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler issued new instructions to the jury on Thursday aimed at breaking an impasse after two days of legal arguments with lawyers on both sides.
Fidler withdrew a jury instruction -- seen as central to the defense case -- that said the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Spector pointed a gun at Clarkson and the gun ended up inside her mouth while in Spector's hand for them to find him guilty.
Instead he told the jury they could consider a range of possible scenarios.
Jurors had reported confusion over the original instruction and Fidler agreed it "misstates the law."
The defense has argued that the 40-year-old actress, who was working as a nightclub hostess when she met Spector, was depressed over her career and finances and shot herself in the mouth, either deliberately or by accident.
Prosecutors said during the trial that even if the gun went off mistakenly, Spector could be convicted of murder because his actions showed a conscious disregard for human life.
Spector, who did not testify in his defense, is famous for pioneering the "Wall of Sound" recording technique in the 1960s and for his work with The Beatles, The Ronettes, Tina Turner and Cher.
Related listings
-
U.S. court rejects Kerkorian appeal - Daimler
Court Alerts 09/19/2007[##_1L|1177592853.jpg|width="130" height="93" alt=""|_##]A U.S. federal court has upheld a lower court ruling that investor Kirk Kerkorian is not entitled to damages over the merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler nine years ago, DaimlerChrysler said on...
-
Mexican drug lord pleads guilty in US court
Court Alerts 09/19/2007[##_1L|1046923081.jpg|width="120" height="88" alt=""|_##]A notorious Mexican drug lord faces life in prison after admitting to running the feared Tijuana cartel in a US court on Monday, justice officials said. Francisco Javier Arellano-Felix, 39, wil...
-
Ex-Navy Clerk Pleads Guilty in Gun Case
Court Alerts 09/19/2007[##_1L|1289572253.jpg|width="101" height="102" alt=""|_##]A former Navy supply officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally possessing 60 unregistered machine guns that were found at his rural home. David Carmel told U.S. District Judge John C. Shabaz...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.