An ill juror brought an early end to deliberations Wednesday in the murder retrial of music producer Phil Spector, who is accused in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra mansion six years ago.
The six-man, six-woman panel went home just before lunch. Jurors are expected to resume deliberating at 9:30 a.m. Friday, but they will only meet until noon because of the Good Friday holiday. As of today, the panel has spent almost 27 hours discussing the case since deliberations began March 26.
In the panel's only readback request, the jury on Tuesday reviewed the testimony of a criminalist who examined Clarkson's body and clothing after her death.
The 15-minute readback focused on evidence collected by Jaime Lintemoot, a criminalist with the Los Angeles County coroner's office. She was at the shooting scene and said she removed blood and debris found on the body and a black slip dress that Clarkson was wearing when she was shot.
Of special interest to four jurors taking notes was testimony regarding blood spatter and a piece of thumbnail missing from Clarkson's right hand.
Spector, 69, is charged with murder in the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting death of the 40-year-old actress and House of Blues VIP hostess. He claims she shot herself with his gun.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler has told jurors that they can consider convicting Spector of involuntary manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.
The option of involuntary manslaughter was not given in Spector's first trial. That jury deadlocked 10-2 in September 2007, with the majority voting in favor of convicting him of murder.
Spector, renowned in music circles for the "Wall of Sound" technique he invented in the 1960s and used in his work with the Beatles and other groups, is free on $1 million bail posted shortly after his arrest.
Clarkson, who was best known for her starring role in the 1985 Roger Corman cult hit "Barbarian Queen," had bit parts on dozens of television shows and in a few well-known movies, such as 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
