Five months of often-sordid testimony in the murder trial of music legend Phil Spector came to a close Monday, with defense attorneys hoping to convince jurors that actress Lana Clarkson was despondent and even suicidal before she was found shot to death in Spector's Alhambra mansion.
The theory is at the heart of defense contentions that the 40-year-old actress shot herself on Feb. 3, 2003, only hours after meeting Spector at the House of Blues. Prosecutors contend that Spector, 67, killed Clarkson when she tried to leave his home after a nightcap.
The final day of testimony in Spector's trial began dramatically when his best-known attorney, Bruce Cutler, abruptly withdrew from the case because of a dispute over who would spearhead the final arguments to the jury.
During a brief appearance before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler, the high-profile New York lawyer said he had always defended his clients "in a manner that I believed was in their best interests.
"I do not agree with the strategy which will be employed in presenting the defense in this case to the jury on summation," he said, adding: "I can no longer effectively represent my client under those conditions. Mr. Spector understands this and consents to my application to be relieved in this case."
Outside court, after Fidler had granted his request, Cutler said that he and Spector had agreed he should leave the defense team after the music producer decided that another one of his lawyers would take the lead in summing up the case to the jury.
"Phil wants to fight this case differently than I want to fight it," Cutler said.
Loquacious and flamboyant, Cutler has been one of New York City's best-known criminal-defense lawyers for decades. A former deputy district attorney, he has most famously represented reputed organized crime figures, including the late Gambino family head John Gotti.
At the luncheon recess, Spector said he decided against having Cutler lead the closing arguments because he believed the lawyer's bruising courtroom style and time away from the case -- to work on a television show -- would hurt his connection with jurors.
"I didn't think it was in my best interest" to have Cutler handle the summations, the record producer said in his whisper of a voice. "I didn't think he had the full credibility with the jury" after missing time at trial and a jury visit to Spector's mansion.
