Phil Spector Found Guilty

noah | April 13, 2009 5:30 am

A Los Angeles jury has found famed record producer Phil Spector guilty in the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector has been found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury of six men and six women, who began deliberations on March 26.

Clarkson was found in a foyer of Spector’s home in the early hours of Feb. 3, 2003, hours after the two met up at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, where Clarkson worked; her body was discovered in a pool of blood. Spector contested that Clarkson had actually killed herself, going so far as to tell Esquire that she had “kissed the gun” before her demise.

This trial, which began last November, was the second on these charges for Spector; his first trial, during which he became known by many Internet lullards as “that guy with the hair,” ended in September 2007, when a mistrial was declared after jurors announced they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Spector—with the assistance of engineer Larry Levine—originated the “Wall Of Sound” production technique, in which large groups of musicians performed their parts in an echo chamber to create a reverbed-out sound that sparkled through even the tinniest speakers. The list of well-known songs and album he’s worked on is vast, spanning from the Beatles’ Let It Be to the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” to the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.” He was also, from reports, pretty angry at those artists who had as much, or more, success than him and any woman who dared cross him.

Spector could face a prison sentence of 18 years to life.

Events In Phil Spector Case [NBC Los Angeles]