December 7, 2007 21:42

Phil Spector finds new lawyer for murder retrial

Retrial may begin next autumn

A San Francisco lawyer has agreed to represent famed producer Phil Spector in his retrial for murder.

Daron Weinberg has agreed to pick up the case, and has proposed that the mistrial begin in September 2008, reports the Associated Press.

Spector's first murder trial ended in a mistrial in September when jurors could not agree on whether he shot actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

The only remaining member of Spector's defence team is Christopher Piourd, who Weinberg today (December 7) told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler will not be available to resume the case until the autumn.

All of the remaining members of Spector's previous defence team have either resigned or were dismissed after the mistrial.

Clarkson died of a gunshot wound at Spector's Los Angeles mansion on February 3, 2003. The prosecution contended that Spector shot her, while the defence argued that the actress shot herself.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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