A judge on Friday sentenced Phil Spector to 19 years to life in prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector’s attorney Doron Weinberg maintained that Spector was convicted wrongly. “The evidence did not establish Mr. Spector’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Weinberg said.
The 69-year-old music producer stared impassively at the judge as he spoke, according to an LA Times story. His defense has vowed to appeal the conviction.
Spector was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of Clarkson, 40, who was shot in his Alhambra, CA mansion.
Over the course of the six-month trial, the prosecution portrayed Spector as a sadistic misogynist who had a three-decade “history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women” when he was drunk. A prosecutor told jurors in her summation that “by the grace of God, five other women got the empty chamber and lived to tell. Lana just happened to be the sixth woman who got the bullet,” said the story.
But Spector’s defense contended Clarkson died by her own hand. They said she was depressed over her flagging career and the accompanying financial worries, and may have committed suicide impulsively after hours of late-night drinking with Spector.
