Juror injury halts testimony in retrial of Spector

Oh for chrisssakes...........

Juror injury halts testimony in retrial of Spector


Posted: Today at 1:21 p.m.
Updated: Today at 3:32 p.m.

LOS ANGELES - The first day of testimony in Phil Spector's murder retrial
was canceled Thursday after an alternate juror fell in the court parking lot
and broke his foot.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said he spoke with the juror, who
wanted to get medical attention and return Monday. The trial is not in
session on Fridays.

The judge said he was reluctant to lose an alternate juror this early in the
retrial for the 68-year-old music producer and would await the man's return.
Six alternates were previously selected to be available in case a regular
juror has to leave.

The first scheduled witness, retired New York City police Detective Vincent
Tannazzo, was in court ready to testify and was ordered to return Monday.

Spector lawyer Doron Weinberg said in his opening statement that he would
show Tannazzo "is not who he says he is."

Tannazzo testified at the first murder trial that Spector had been ejected
from two Manhattan Christmas parties given in the early 1990s by comedian
Joan Rivers after yelling obscenities against women and shouting, "They all
deserve a bullet in their heads."

Weinberg called the claim "preposterous" and said the words were never
spoken.

The testimony was the subject of pretrial disputes, with the defense
claiming the incendiary language attributed to Spector was prejudicial.

Tannazzo is expected to be followed on the stand by Dorothy Melvin, one of
Spector's old flames.

The retrial opened Wednesday with Weinberg casting the shooting of Lana
Clarkson as a probable suicide and with prosecutor Alan Jackson promising to
show jurors "the real Phil Spector," a violent woman-hater.

Spector met Clarkson while he was out on the town in 2003 and she was
working as a club hostess. He took her to his home, where she was found dead
in the grand foyer, a gunshot through her mouth.

There were no witnesses to the shooting. The prosecution has said Spector
shot her after she resisted his sexual advances.

The in Spector's first trial a year ago deadlocked 10-2, with the majority
favoring conviction on second-degree murder.

Spector, the renowned inventor of the "Wall of Sound" recording technique,
produced some of the biggest songs in rock music history, including "Be My
Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."



http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/3855781/


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