The murder case of pop music legend Phil Spector went to the jury Monday, but not without some final fireworks from the music producer's camp.
Before jurors were instructed on how to determine whether Spector is guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson, Spector's wife snapped at Judge Larry Paul Fidler after he ordered her to stop speaking to the media.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge also addressed a news report printed Sunday in which Spector reportedly said Fidler did not like him. Spector's attorneys denied that he had made the remarks.
Rachelle Spector, 27, had defended her 67-year-old husband last week on Court TV, prompting Fidler to warn lawyers to keep the parties out of the media so they do not improperly influence jurors. On Sunday, she sent an e-mail saying she had posted the video interview on her personal website.
That prompted a direct warning from Fidler. "Mrs. Spector, I want you to hear every comment I am about to make," he declared in the courtroom without jurors present.
"Ma'am, I am going to do something I have never done before," Fidler said, then warned her: "You will not talk to the press. If you do, you will be in violation of my order."
Rather than listening deferentially as is expected in court, Rachelle Spector immediately shot back: "But I'm not a witness," then added, "Is it OK for Louis [Spector's son] and all the other bad people to say stuff?"
Christopher J. Plourd, one of Spector's attorneys, immediately stood up from the lawyer's bar and began walking toward the gallery, his arms extended in a gesture urging her to stop.
Before Plourd reached Rachelle Spector, Fidler replied, "If you violate my order, be prepared for the consequences."
Spector has been on trial since April in the death of Lana Clarkson, 40, on Feb. 3, 2003.
Clarkson, an actress who appeared in television commercials and played the title role in the cult film "Barbarian Queen," was found dead in Spector's Alhambra home, shot through the mouth. Spector produced hit songs for the Beatles, Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner and other pop icons.
Spector's lawyers contend that Clarkson shot herself in despair over her failed acting career and other troubles.
Spector has maintained his innocence in the years since his arrest, occasionally in public rants about the charges against him. A videotape shot sometime after Clarkson's death and broadcast this year, for instance, showed him angrily attacking women who testified that he had threatened them with guns in the years before the actress' shooting.
