Photos on website linked to Spector's wife illegal, judge says
The pictures posted on the site show a blogger critical of the music producer's defense attending his murder trial. Photography in the court is generally prohibited.
The judge presiding over Phil Spector's murder trial said today that photographs on a website linked to the music producer's wife are in violation of court rules.
Pictures posted on a site bearing the name of Spector's wife, Rachelle, show a blogger critical of Spector's defense attending the trial. Two of the pictures on www.rachellespector.com seem to have been taken from inside the courtroom where Spector's trial is taking place. A third appears to have been shot in the courthouse hallway.
Court rules prohibit photography in the courthouse except with permission from a judge or in specially designated areas for the media.
"Our rules are very, very specific on that issue," Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler told lawyers. "It's just violating the rules."
The photos, which appeared to be taken with a cellphone camera, were accompanied by comments on the coverage and appearance of blogger Betsy Ross.
"Boy, the audacity she has to comment on what my husband and I look like and what we wear! Too Funny!" one comment read.
Ross said she learned of the photos from a message someone attempted to post on her blog. She said her accounts of Spector's retrial have a pro-prosecution slant and "I've made no bones about that."
Testimony in the trial today was canceled because of a juror illness, and Spector and his wife did not attend. His attorney declined to comment.
harriet.ryan@latimes.com
