May 22, 2008 21:25

New date set for Phil Spector murder trial

The famed producer must stand trial again

A Los Angeles judge today (May 22) set a date for the second murder trial of famed music producer Phil Spector.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler ordered Spector to stand trial beginning September 29, after his first trial ended in a hung jury last year.

Spector was charged with second-degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson nearly five years ago, for which he would have faced a minimum of 18 years in jail if he had been convicted.

After sitting through five months of heated testimony, the jury reached a 10-2 deadlock in favour of convicting Spector, which resulted in the judge declaring a mistrial.

Spector -- the pioneer behind the 1960s Wall Of Sound technique -- is accused of murdering Clarkson at his Los Angeles mansion on February 3, 2003, hours after meeting her at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip where she worked.

The defence team in the original case contended that Clarkson was depressed and shot herself in the mouth.

Most of Spector's defence team quit in October causing delays in the retrial, reports Reuters.

The producer's new defence team is attempting to have Fidler removed from the trial on the grounds that he is biased against Spector.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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