The second trial of Phil Spector in the death of Lana Clarkson is underway in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Bloody time, too. Ms Clarkson has been dead for five and a half years, and the first effort at adjudication was declared a mistrial about one year ago.
That first jury was deadlocked at 10-2, with the two holdout voting "not guilty." I believe it was Jay Leno who remarked at the time: "Amazing coincidence that OJ Simpson and Robert Blake happened to be on that jury, isn't it?"
The usual people are playing the usual parts. Alan Jackson is again prosecuting the case. As reports indicate he gave an opening statement that sounded a lot like the one he gave last year.
Still, one should make an effort to avoid getting jaded. Just because something sounds familiar to those of us who've been following it probably too closely doesn't make it wrong.
Here's a quick link to some not-at-all jaded particulars.
Showing posts with label O.J. Simpson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label O.J. Simpson. Show all posts
30 October 2008
23 April 2007
Rolling out the character witnesses
News reports this weekend tell us that a jury for the upcoming Phil Spector murder trial has been chosen, and speculate about stellar "character witnesses" who may testify for the defense.
Some history, if you will. In the early days of the jury, the days when the Norman conquerors were still trying to get a handle on these odd Anglo-Saxons they were now ruling, the jurors were themselves thought likely to be familiar with the defendant's character and reputation. After all, he probably came from a village where everybody knew everyone -- and they were drawn from the same locale, so his reputation WAS the opinion they held of him.
But as cities large enough so that people didn't necessarily know each other became a common fact on the island, it naturally became increasingly common that a jury would decide the fate of a stranger. Indeed, over time the idea that he OUGHT to be a stranger to them took hold. The jurors shouldn't have any pre-conceived opinion about his reputation, but should be allowed to develop one.
Hence, the character witness, who generally doesn't testify about character, but about "reputation in the community." The jury is allowed (but of course not required) to infer that people who have a good reputation probably got it the right way -- not by fooling everybody but by acting neighborly, repaying debts, etc.
All that said, the institution of a character witness seems in the 21st century to be an institutionalization of pointlessness. What juror will be persuaded to vote to acquit Phil Spector on the basis of the willingness of some other show-business bigshot to say, "yes, he has a high reputation in the community"? I'm afraid there are such jurors, but that means I'm afraid there are people who are so celebrity-blinded as to ignore the obligations of an oath.
Anyway, Phil Spector is playing the game in that hope. His character witnesses may include Yoko Ono and Keith Richards. Neither of whom have anything to contribute to the actual question of how Lana Clarkson died on February 3, 2003. Indeed, even musically the first of those two names brings me up short. Didn't Spector do what Beatles admirers generally think was a really lousy job of producing the one Beatles album he had a shot at? Whatever....
I recently read something amusing on this trial. I've forgotten the source. But someone wrote an article in the form of a letter of encouragement OJ Simpson might write Phil.
"If you're lucky, at some point the prosecutor will hand you the gun you killed Clarkson with. When this happens, be prepared. Be sure to twist your fingers around each other arthritically, act pained, and say, 'I can't reach the trigger.'
"Then you'll just need a cute rhyming phrase that will get into the jury's head and do the rest of the work for you. 'If my hands can't shoot, the case is moot.' Okay, that's pretty lame. But you were in the lyrics business, you can come up with something."
It was a very clever piece, whoever wrote it. Anyway, my one suggestion to the prosecutors: keep Chris Darden miles away.
Some history, if you will. In the early days of the jury, the days when the Norman conquerors were still trying to get a handle on these odd Anglo-Saxons they were now ruling, the jurors were themselves thought likely to be familiar with the defendant's character and reputation. After all, he probably came from a village where everybody knew everyone -- and they were drawn from the same locale, so his reputation WAS the opinion they held of him.
But as cities large enough so that people didn't necessarily know each other became a common fact on the island, it naturally became increasingly common that a jury would decide the fate of a stranger. Indeed, over time the idea that he OUGHT to be a stranger to them took hold. The jurors shouldn't have any pre-conceived opinion about his reputation, but should be allowed to develop one.
Hence, the character witness, who generally doesn't testify about character, but about "reputation in the community." The jury is allowed (but of course not required) to infer that people who have a good reputation probably got it the right way -- not by fooling everybody but by acting neighborly, repaying debts, etc.
All that said, the institution of a character witness seems in the 21st century to be an institutionalization of pointlessness. What juror will be persuaded to vote to acquit Phil Spector on the basis of the willingness of some other show-business bigshot to say, "yes, he has a high reputation in the community"? I'm afraid there are such jurors, but that means I'm afraid there are people who are so celebrity-blinded as to ignore the obligations of an oath.
Anyway, Phil Spector is playing the game in that hope. His character witnesses may include Yoko Ono and Keith Richards. Neither of whom have anything to contribute to the actual question of how Lana Clarkson died on February 3, 2003. Indeed, even musically the first of those two names brings me up short. Didn't Spector do what Beatles admirers generally think was a really lousy job of producing the one Beatles album he had a shot at? Whatever....
I recently read something amusing on this trial. I've forgotten the source. But someone wrote an article in the form of a letter of encouragement OJ Simpson might write Phil.
"If you're lucky, at some point the prosecutor will hand you the gun you killed Clarkson with. When this happens, be prepared. Be sure to twist your fingers around each other arthritically, act pained, and say, 'I can't reach the trigger.'
"Then you'll just need a cute rhyming phrase that will get into the jury's head and do the rest of the work for you. 'If my hands can't shoot, the case is moot.' Okay, that's pretty lame. But you were in the lyrics business, you can come up with something."
It was a very clever piece, whoever wrote it. Anyway, my one suggestion to the prosecutors: keep Chris Darden miles away.
19 March 2007
TV Cameras in Court for Spector Trial
The latest celebrity-murder trial is underway. Phil Spector, legendary record producer -- Tom Wolfe once called him the "Tycoon of Teen" -- stands trial as of today for the alleged murder of Lana Clarkson four years ago.
There will be cameras in the courtroom, for the first time in a California criminal court since Lance Ito became a television star. The length of the period since the OJ trial seems to be part of the rationale for trying it again. "We have to get beyond OJ," said someone in authority.
So, first, we have the news about the news here. We have another OJ-style media circus in the making. Second, we have the story of the life and death of Lana Clarkson itself, an actress best know for playing amazon-warrior characters. She had the title role in the Roger Corman cult classic "Barbarian Queen," and a later sequel.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0165096/bio
And who could forget her performance as Alpha Beta in "Amazon Women on the Moon," by director John Landis?
At any rate, Spector brought Clarkson to his home after a night on the town. The next certain fact is that a neighbor placed a 911 call about a gunshot. When police responded, they found Clarkson dead, and Spector described it to them as an accident.
Spector has been going through lawyers pretty quickly in the subsequent years. He first hired Robert Shapiro, another OJ echo. Not only is Shapiro not working for Spector anymore, Spector has sued Shapiro for $1 million -- because he apparently refused to return his retainer.
Spector has also hired, and then fired, Leslie Abramson -- the one-time defense counsel of Lyle and Erik Menendez. His latest attorney is Bruce Cutler, who gained some notoriety on the other coast defending John Gotti.
Cutler apparently plans to contend that Clarkson committed suicide. That strikes me as odd, not just because its intuitively implausible but because there is some reason to believe an insanity defense could be made in a plausible way. http://www.playfuls.com/news_00002781_Phil_Spector8217s_Desperate_Trial_Set_To_Commence.html
But there is much to be said about the insanity defense. I hope to say it at another time.
There will be cameras in the courtroom, for the first time in a California criminal court since Lance Ito became a television star. The length of the period since the OJ trial seems to be part of the rationale for trying it again. "We have to get beyond OJ," said someone in authority.
So, first, we have the news about the news here. We have another OJ-style media circus in the making. Second, we have the story of the life and death of Lana Clarkson itself, an actress best know for playing amazon-warrior characters. She had the title role in the Roger Corman cult classic "Barbarian Queen," and a later sequel.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0165096/bio
And who could forget her performance as Alpha Beta in "Amazon Women on the Moon," by director John Landis?
At any rate, Spector brought Clarkson to his home after a night on the town. The next certain fact is that a neighbor placed a 911 call about a gunshot. When police responded, they found Clarkson dead, and Spector described it to them as an accident.
Spector has been going through lawyers pretty quickly in the subsequent years. He first hired Robert Shapiro, another OJ echo. Not only is Shapiro not working for Spector anymore, Spector has sued Shapiro for $1 million -- because he apparently refused to return his retainer.
Spector has also hired, and then fired, Leslie Abramson -- the one-time defense counsel of Lyle and Erik Menendez. His latest attorney is Bruce Cutler, who gained some notoriety on the other coast defending John Gotti.
Cutler apparently plans to contend that Clarkson committed suicide. That strikes me as odd, not just because its intuitively implausible but because there is some reason to believe an insanity defense could be made in a plausible way. http://www.playfuls.com/news_00002781_Phil_Spector8217s_Desperate_Trial_Set_To_Commence.html
But there is much to be said about the insanity defense. I hope to say it at another time.
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