(CBS/AP) Rock music producer Phil Spector was convicted Monday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion six years ago.
A Superior Court jury returned the verdict after an estimated 29 to 30 hours of deliberations. The jury had the option of choosing involuntary manslaughter, but did not do so.
Spector had no obvious reaction. His attorney argued that he should remain free on bail pending the May 29 sentencing but Judge Larry Paul Fidler accepted the prosecution’s argument that he be remanded to jail immediately.
Spector was led out of the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies. Second-degree murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison.
Spector’s young wife, Rachelle, sobbed as the decision was announced.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen reports he’s not terribly surprised by the verdict. Spector was at the scene of the crime, has a reputation for gun play and essentially incriminated himself moments after the shooting. That’s a trifecta that usually results in a conviction no matter who the defendant is.
The 40-year-old Clarkson, star of the 1985 cult film “Barbarian Queen,” died of a gunshot fired in her mouth as she sat in the foyer of Spector’s mansion in 2003. She met Spector only hours earlier at her job as a nightclub hostess.
Prosecutors argued Spector had a history of threatening women with guns when they tried to leave his presence.
