Four Years Later, Spector Faces the Music

Word just came down today that after wangling delay after delay, Phil Spector will finally go on trial here in Los Angeles.

Jury selection begins next week, and the "Wall of Sound" music producer will need to come out from behind the walls of his compound, where he's been hiding out on $1 million in bail. It's a disgrace that the courts have allowed this to drag on and on and on in the hopes that people will forget what happened.

Spector's legal team is banking on the idea that by now, you -- dear potential jurors -- would have forgotten all about Lana Clarkson, the gorgeous 40-year-old B-movie actress/hostess found dead inside the hall of Spector's Pyrenees Castle estate in February ... 2003.

Here's a reminder: Clarkson was a hostess at the House of Blues back then. Early on the morning of February 3rd, Clarkson initially refused to grant Spector entry to the HOB's VIP section. Shortly thereafter, Clarkson was reprimanded by the club's manager and told to give Spector extra special attention. When Spector suggested the two have a nightcap at his manse after closing, she agreed. It was a decision that would cost her her life.

As the UK paper the Manchester Guardian recounts, "the prosecution alleges that early on the morning of February 3, 2003, Spector's chauffeur Adriano DeSouza was sitting in the producer's black Mercedes outside the Pyrenees Castle when he heard what sounded like a shot. As the driver got out of the car to investigate, Spector apparently emerged from inside wearing a white jacket and carrying a gun. 'I think I killed somebody,' he is alleged to have said. What happened next is known only to Spector, and it is possible that he does not remember. The chauffeur called the police, who found a lifeless Clarkson sprawled on a chair, her head tilted back. The bottom of her mouth had been blown off and a .36 calibre Colt revolver was found under her left leg."

As much of a circus as the OJ trial was, this might well draw even more media: Spector didn't just work with girl-groups like The Ronettes; he also worked with The Beatles. I imagine every UK paper, TV and radio outfit will be covering the Spector trial alongside American journos.