Bruce Cutler planned to maul the prosecution.
The acclaimed New York defense lawyer expected to fight like an escaped animal from the Bronx Zoo to keep legendary record producer Phil Spector out of prison, as he had done three times for the late mob boss John Gotti.
But for the last four weeks, Cutler has sat silently as other attorneys took on Spector's murder defense. Instead of a courtroom predator, Cutler has been like an expensive statue adorning the defense table.
"I don't want to be like the lions in front of the New York Public Library," he said, referring to the marble icons Patience and Fortitude.
"A lion's got to roar," Cutler told a reporter recently over dinner, as he sliced a bloody rare steak. "I have been muzzled."
"Phillip needs me" to win over the jury. "He needs my oomph, bang and emotion," said Cutler, who is known as much for his theatrics as his legal skills.
Spector put Cutler on a short leash last month after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler had scolded the lawyer for shouting at Dianne Ogden, who had tearfully described Spector pressing a pistol to her face and forcing her to spend the night with him in 1989.
Ogden's account closely matched the murder scenario that prosecutors said occurred the night of Feb. 3, 2003, when actress Lana Clarkson was shot to death in Spector's Alhambra mansion. The defense contends that Clarkson shot herself.
Ogden, her voice trembling, proclaimed that she was testifying only because she had been subpoenaed and that she wanted to "protect" Spector.
Cutler still treated Ogden as if she were a hostile witness.
"You formed an opinion!" he shouted at her. At that point, a seething Fidler interjected. "You will not point and yell at witnesses in my courtroom -- ever!" Fidler said.
Two weeks earlier, Cutler had given a blustery opening statement. The police and prosecutors had "murder on their mind" and had railroaded Spector, he bellowed.
Although Cutler's courtroom performance offered plenty of action for the television cameras, people familiar with the defense team said Spector, his other lawyers and jury consultants thought Cutler flopped where it mattered -- with the jury.
Cutler would not comment on why he was squelched, instead speaking of his need to get back in the game so that he could save Spector.
The trial has now hit the doldrums. The last few weeks have been heavily laden with clinical testimony and cross-examinations of a coroner and detectives.
