Phil Spector Gets 19 Years to Life
Famed pop producer Phil Spector faced the music today, as he was sentenced in Los Angeles Superior Court to 19 years to life for the second-degree murder of Lana Clarkson, reports Reuters.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Spector’s shooting of Clarkson was part of a pattern of violent behavior he had displayed toward women for 20 years, describing him as a bully and saying that he had a problem controlling his anger, the news agency notes.
Convicted in April of shooting the 40-year-old actress and restaurant hostess to death in his home in 2003, Spector had to get a mandatory 15-year-to-life term, reports the L.A. Now blog of the Los Angeles Times.
But Judge Larry Paul Fidler did have discretion about whether to sentence the 69-year-old Spector to an additional three, four or 10 years for use of a firearm, the blog explains. The defense, of course, was seeking three years; the prosecution recommended four years. Fidler went with the prosecution’s four-year recommendation, according to Reuters.
How Fidler decided this issue determined whether Spector could potentially be paroled at at age 77, 78 or 87, at the earliest, the blog notes.
Spector’s defense team has vowed to appeal his conviction. “Everything is now being focused on a successful appeal,” his publicist, Hal Lifson, tells L.A. Now.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Phil Spector Convicted of 2nd-Degree Murder in Actress’s Death at His L.A. Home”
ABAJournal.com: “Bad Hair, Harmonious Jury Helped Tip Scales of Justice Against Phil Spector”
Last updated at 1:45 p.m.
