 | | Phil Spector gets off |
Phil Spector's murder trial collapsed on Wednesday after the jury
failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler declared a mistrial after
the jury were unable to agree on whether the 67-year-old music producer was
guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Lana Clarkson in 2003.
The panel of 12 - which had been deliberating for 12 days - returned a hung
vote of 10-2, with the majority favouring a guilty verdict. It is the second
deadlock the jury have reached in this five-month case.
Last week, Fidler sent the jury back with new instructions on the definition
of murder in the case, and offered various scenarios for the jury to
consider, after they returned a 7-5 split vote.
Speaking after Wednesday's court hearing, three jurors admitted that as two
jurors remained determined of Spector's innocence it gave weight to the
defence's assertions that Clarkson may have accidentally committed suicide.
One juror added they had trouble understanding why there was so little blood
spatter on Spector if he was guilty of shooting the 40-year-old actress in
the mouth.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office immediately announced it
would retrial Spector, who remains free on a $1 million bail.
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