Los Angeles – A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the murder case against Phil Spector when the jury reported that it was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting the music producer of killing actress Lana Clarkson more than four years ago.
The prosecutor’s office announced it would seek to retry Spector. The family of the actress also pledged to press on.
“We will not rest until justice is done,” said John C. Taylor, a lawyer for the family.
Spector, 67, and his wife, Rachelle, left the courthouse shortly after the mistrial. The producer’s attorneys later met with the jury.
“We thank the people of Los Angeles for keeping an open mind and the jury for their very hard work and their willingness to share their thoughts with us,” defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden said.
The mistrial came after months of a trial in which jurors had to decide who pulled the trigger of a revolver – leaving no fingerprints – that went off in Clarkson’s mouth early Feb. 3, 2003. The jury had met for about 44 hours over 12 days since getting the case Sept. 10.
A week ago, the jury foreman had reported a 7-5 split. After that, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler withdrew a jury instruction that he decided misstated the law and issued a new one giving examples of what panelists could draw from the evidence, including the possibility that Spector forced Clarkson to place the gun in her own mouth.
Fidler polled the jury, and each member agreed that a unanimous decision was not possible.
Some jurors agreed to talk to reporters at the courthouse but did not give their names. The foreman would not say which way he voted; the other two said they voted for guilt.
One juror said that the holdouts argued over whether Clarkson was suicidal and that the entire jury would have liked to see a psychological profile of the actress. Another juror was troubled by what Spector, who did not call 911, did in the 40 minutes between the death and the time police arrived.
“He acted like a guilty man,” the juror said.
The mistrial also disappointed prosecutors.
“We will seek the court’s permission to retry the case and begin immediately to prepare for a retrial,” prosecutor Steve Cooley said in a statement. A hearing was set for Oct. 3.
