GUILTY CA - Lana Clarkson, 40, fatally shot, Alhambra, 3 Feb 2003

[JDB]

Try this link on the web JDB.

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-philspector-livevideo,0,1937524.blurb

Live video.

W

It is now working. It was a problem on there side.
Thanks

 

[Hez]

Hex Can you point me to the post on CTV? I hope it is true.

I wish I could, but it is buried in one of those long daily verdict watch threads. Sorry. I'm pretty sure that one of us sleuthers out there made sure to point it out to the prosecution and the judge.

 

[biggirl]

What is happening?? Is it a mistrial??:banghead:

 

[Hez]

I've heard the judge declined to instruct the jury about the lesser charge.

That is true. He also removed Special Instruction #3. Here's a snip from Harriet Ryan's blog. http://blog.courttv.com/phil_spector/

The special instruction that some jurors have hinted is gumming up the works in the jury room will be withdrawn, the judge rules. Fidler tells lawyers that he has read and re-read "Special Instruction 3" and decided that it is just legally incorrect.
Of the defense-penned instruction, the judge says, “It is clear to me at least in part, and I mean nothing negative by this, why the defense fought so hard to get this in.”
“It misstates the law,” he says.

They will be back in court tomorrow so both sides can re-do their closing arguments based on this change in the jury instructions. Then the case goes back to the jury. Hopefully they can get it right this time. This is a question one of the jurors had for the judge.

"Do we base our decision strictly on the wording of that instruction only, or all the evidence?" one juror, a shop mechanic, asked the judge.

Well of course you base your decision on all the evidence! What have you been going to court for the last 5 months for then? I'm glad the judge removed that instruction because it obviously has caused a lot of confusion. Exactly what the defense had hoped for I imagine.

 

[JDB]

That is true. He also removed Special Instruction #3. Here's a snip from Harriet Ryan's blog. http://blog.courttv.com/phil_spector/

The special instruction that some jurors have hinted is gumming up the works in the jury room will be withdrawn, the judge rules. Fidler tells lawyers that he has read and re-read "Special Instruction 3" and decided that it is just legally incorrect.
Of the defense-penned instruction, the judge says, “It is clear to me at least in part, and I mean nothing negative by this, why the defense fought so hard to get this in.”
“It misstates the law,” he says.

They will be back in court tomorrow so both sides can re-do their closing arguments based on this change in the jury instructions. Then the case goes back to the jury. Hopefully they can get it right this time. This is a question one of the jurors had for the judge.

"Do we base our decision strictly on the wording of that instruction only, or all the evidence?" one juror, a shop mechanic, asked the judge.

Well of course you base your decision on all the evidence! What have you been going to court for the last 5 months for then? I'm glad the judge removed that instruction because it obviously has caused a lot of confusion. Exactly what the defense had hoped for I imagine.

From what I heard they are not going to RE-Do closings. The judge is just going to go over the questions the jury had.

 

[Moe]

Hex Can you point me to the post on CTV? I hope it is true.

I emailed the Myspace link to the DA, and received a reply this morning stating the link had been forwarded to Alan Jackson. Someone on the CTV message boards reported yesterday that AJ was told about this in court yesterday as well. At least we know the DA knows about the post, and I'm sure they will be looking into it. Maybe they can get Spector for jury tampering too.

 

[Hez]

From what I heard they are not going to RE-Do closings. The judge is just going to go over the questions the jury had.

You are correct, my mistake.

 

[Hez]

I emailed the Myspace link to the DA, and received a reply this morning stating the link had been forwarded to Alan Jackson. Someone on the CTV message boards reported yesterday that AJ was told about this in court yesterday as well. At least we know the DA knows about the post, and I'm sure they will be looking into it. Maybe they can get Spector for jury tampering too.

It was brought up in court? Did anybody catch what was said about the situation? Thanks.

 

[Moe]

No, it was not brought up in open court. I'm sure someone is looking into it though, it could be all for not, one never knows.

 

[JDB]

Anything happening yet? I can not watch today *SNIFF SNIFF*

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Anything happening yet? I can not watch today *SNIFF SNIFF*

Nothing happening yet today big guy!!! Hang in there.

 

[Whiner]

Going over jury instruction language again. They're stuck on reference to brandishing, implied malice, "directly" caused the death. They're picking it over with a fine tooth comb. The judge wants to make language more specific, says it's too broad.

 

[Whiner]

FYI: Live stream of the hearing on www.foxnews.com.

 

[JDB]

I have this gut feeling. This one is going to get a do over.

 

[panthera]

I guess they finally got to deliberate today after getting a new instruction, for about 40min. then went home.

..and they're done
Forty minutes after they began, jurors say they are done for the day. Most look serious and tired, but Juror No. 8 flashes a smile at the spectator's gallery. Total deliberation time: 29 hours. -- Harriet Ryan
Posted at 7:08 PM |


Restart the verdict clock.
The jurors were sent back into the jury room at 3:12 p.m. PT armed with a new set of instructions concerning second-degree murder and a command from the judge to work diligently to reach a verdict. The deadlocked panelists seemed to pay intense attention — leaning forward in their chairs, eyes focused on the bench — as Fidler explained that he was replacing part of the instructions they have relied on for seven days of deliberations with a new one.
Of Special Instruction 3 — the one that said jurors had to believe beyond a reasonable doubt the prosecutor’s theory that the gun discharged in Clarkson’s mouth as Spector held it there — Fidler told the jurors, “Treat it as if you had never heard of it.”
In its place, Fidler gives jurors an instruction that does not limit them to one theory. He tells them that to convict Spector, they must determine beyond a reasonable doubt that “the defendant committed an act with a firearm that caused the death of Lana Clarkson.”
He gives examples of possible scenarios: “Placing the gun in her mouth or forcing her to place the gun in her mouth, at which time it discharged; pointing the gun at or against her head, after which it entered her mouth, at which time it discharged; pointing the gun at her to prevent her from leaving the house, causing a struggle, which caused the gun to enter her mouth and discharge.”
But, he cautions jurors, Spector is not guilty if the act they find he committed was merely “drawing or exhibiting a firearm in a rude, angry or threatening manner.”
He then reads jurors a two-page, appellate-court approved exhortation that manages to both beg for a verdict and insist each juror stays true to his or her conscience.
“It is your duty as jurors to deliberate with the goal of arriving at a verdict on the charge if you can do so without violence to your individual judgment,” he tells them.
Then they disappear behind the wooden door at the back of the courtroom. Five minutes later, the buzzer — silent for two days — announces that they have started weighing evidence again.
-- Harriet Ryan
http://blog.courttv.com/phil_spector/

 

[panthera]

I have this gut feeling. This one is going to get a do over.

I think so too, with a 7/5 split they're all now going to agree? It'd be a miracle if that happened.

 

[Squishified]

I think so too, with a 7/5 split they're all now going to agree? It'd be a miracle if that happened.

I'm praying for that miracle.

 

[panthera]

I'm praying for that miracle.

Well we didn't get our miracle today, in fact they left early!! What is going on with them that they keep such short hours?

http://blog.courttv.com/phil_spector/

 

[Greywing]

Well we didn't get our miracle today, in fact they left early!! What is going on with them that they keep such short hours?

http://blog.courttv.com/phil_spector/

Panthera, I have a feeling there is at least one person who just is not going to budge from their decision. As I believe PS is guilty, I'm thinking (hoping) the majority are leaning toward a guilty verdict ... at this point I'm not holding out much hope for anything other than a mistrial due to a hung jury.

 

[ziggy]

A miracle is disguise? Perhaps if they retry the case, the "experts" for the defense will be "unavailable". I don't think they will drag any hile profile names into this mess again, I could be wrong.

In a second trial, I bet they could get a conviction. Too messy, this one, with LKB and her liar husband, Dr. Lee, etc.

I'd prefer to see a fresh start and give Jackson another crack at it.