hippiechick
Did you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind?
Location: topsy turvy land Gender: Zodiac: Chinese Yr:
Posted:
May 29, 2009 - 4:52pm
Phil Spector sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for murder of actress Lana Clarkson
LINDA DEUTSCH
AP Special Correspondent
6:20 PM CDT, May 29, 2009
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Phil Spector was sentenced Friday to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who was shot through the mouth in the music producer's home six years ago. Spector, 69, looked straight forward and showed no emotion as Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ordered a term of 15 years to life for second-degree murder plus four years for personal use of a gun.
Clarkson's mother, Donna, made a brief statement before sentencing, speaking of her daughter's fine qualities, sense of humor, intelligence and dedication to her craft of acting.
"I'm very proud of Lana, proud to be her mother," Donna Clarkson said. She added, "No one should suffer the loss of a child."
The judge also ordered Spector to pay $16,811 in funeral expenses, $9,740 to a state victims' restitution fund and other fees.
Spector, dressed in his customary dark pinstripe suit with a red silk tie, was led away immediately. His attorney asked that he be transferred immediately from county jail to a state prison. It was not immediately known to which prison Spector would be assigned.
Spector gained fame decades ago for what became known as the "Wall of Sound" recording technique that changed rock music.
Clarkson was most famous as the star of Roger Corman's 1985 cult film classic "Barbarian Queen." She was 40 when she died.
Spector's young wife, who is in her late 20s, attended the sentencing.
"This is a sad day for everybody involved," Rachelle Spector said. "The Clarkson family has lost a daughter and a sister. I've lost my husband, my best friend. I feel that a grave injustice has been done and from this day forward I'm going to dedicate myself to proving my husband's innocence."
Spector's son Louis, accompanied by his wife, also came to the sentencing. He had attended much of the trial.
"I'm torn about this," he said. "I'm losing my father who is going to spend his life in jail. At the same time, justice is served."
Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson said afterward that the outcome sent a message: "If you commit crimes against our citizens we will follow you and prosecute you. And no matter whether you are famous or wealthy, you will stand trial."
Asked how he felt about Spector personally, Jackson said, "I find nothing tragic about him. Everything he did was intentional."
Jackson said the case was "rock solid" legally and will not be subject to a successful appeal.
Defense attorney Doron Weinberg told reporters that the appeal will be extremely strong.
"Mr. Spector did not kill Lana Clarkson," he said, "and we hope by the time we are through we will be able to prove that."
Spector had two trials with essentially the same evidence. His first in 2007 was televised gavel to gavel and spectators flocked to the courtroom. But when the jury deadlocked after a five-month trial, his legal "dream team," which at times numbered half a dozen lawyers, bailed out.
By the time the second trial started in 2008, interest had waned. The judge ordered cameras turned off and only a handful of spectators and reporters stopped in sporadically to watch testimony.
During jury selection, only a few panelists remembered Spector's heyday as producer of teen anthems including "To Know Him is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears, The Ronette's "Be My Baby," The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and The Righteous Brothers' classic, "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'." Spector also worked on a Beatles album with John Lennon.
Ironically, Clarkson didn't know Spector's music legacy either when she met him only hours before she died at his Alhambra "castle" in February 2003. She was working as a hostess at the House of Blues nightclub on the Sunset Strip, where she had to be told by a manager that Spector was an important man.
His time had passed. Clarkson's career also was ebbing. Their fateful meeting, recounted in both trials, led to her death and the end of his life as he knew it. For the next six years he spent millions of dollars on lawyers as he sought to prove that Clarkson killed herself.
But what had happened inside his house was never clear. Clarkson's body was found slumped in a chair in a foyer. A gun had been fired in her mouth. Spector's chauffeur, the key witness, said he heard a gunshot, then saw Spector emerge holding a gun and heard him say: "I think I killed somebody."
Weinberg said forensic evidence proved that Clarkson shot herself and cited her desperation at not being able to get acting work. Jackson said the shooting fit the pattern of other confrontations between Spector and women.
Much of the case hinged on the testimony of five women from Spector's past who said he threatened them with guns when they tried to leave his presence. The parallels with the night Clarkson died were chilling even if the stories were very old — 31 years in one instance.
Weinberg said Spector's appeal will assert that the judge erred in allowing the women to testify.
hippiechick
Did you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind?
Location: topsy turvy land Gender: Zodiac: Chinese Yr:
Posted:
Apr 23, 2009 - 3:56pm
Jay Leno Hospitalized, Tonight's Show Canceled
KTLA News
April 23, 2009
BURBANK — "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno has been hospitalized.
According to Tracy St. Pierre of NBC, Leno checked himself in to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well.
St. Pierre confirmed, tonight's show taping has been canceled.
There had been speculation that Leno may be suffering from food poisoning, however St. Pierre said she did not believe that was the case.
She would not elaborate on the comedian's condition, except to say Leno was being checked out by doctors.
He is said to be in "good spirits" and writing jokes from his hospital bed.
Guests on tonight’s show were expected to be Ryan Reynolds, Jules Sylvester and swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Hulk Hogan is sounding homicidal over the way his wife Linda dumped him, forced him out of his $18 million mansion, allegedly started spending his money at the rate of $40,000 a month and dating "some shaggy-haired pool boy 30 years her junior," Rolling Stone reports.
"I could have turned everything into a crime scene, like OJ, cutting everybody's throat," he told the magazine.
"You live half a mile from the 20,000-square-foot home you can't go to anymore, you're driving through downtown Clearwater and see a 19-year-old boy driving your Escalade, and you know that a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed, with your wife . . . I totally understand OJ. I get it."
He and Linda are battling it out in a Florida divorce court, where Linda's attorney claims she's entitled to use the car and that Hogan's claims against her are merely an attempt to control her love life.
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the rock music impresario behind such hits such as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” and “Be My Baby,” was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of an actress at his mansion in 2003, after a night of drinking.
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the rock music impresario behind such hits such as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” and “Be My Baby,” was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of an actress at his mansion in 2003, after a night of drinking.
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the rock music impresario behind such hits such as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” and “Be My Baby,” was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of an actress at his mansion in 2003, after a night of drinking.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A friend of adult film star Marilyn Chambers says the actress has been found dead at her home in northern Los Angeles County.
Peggy McGinn says the 56-year-old Chambers was found by her 17-year-old daughter Sunday night and the cause of death has not been determined.
Chambers starred in the 1972 film "Behind the Green Door," which was more widely distributed and attracted a more mainstream audience than the usual adult fare.
Chambers, whose given name was Marilyn Briggs, was once a model for Ivory Snow. She was among the first porn superstars when the stag films of the 1940s through 1960s gave way to the more polished sex films of the 1970s.
Please lock me away And don't allow the day Here inside, where I hide with my loneliness I don't care what they say, I won't stay In a world without love
< close class clearfix>Ledyard, Conn. — One half of the 1960s musical duo Peter & Gordon, known for the chart-topping song “World Without Love,” was more than three times the legal limit for alcohol consumption last month when he crashed his car into a stone wall, police reports show. Gordon Waller, 63, was charged March 10 by Ledyard police with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and making an improper turn. At 6:20 p.m. that night, police responded to a one-car accident on Mathewson Mill Road in Ledyard, in the area of Thomas Road.
I was just about to say that I have no idea who that is and then this song came on...same guy?
Yes, that is my FAVORITE song by him, too. He's a great singer/songwriter for sure...don't know what's up with the scruffy haystack hairstyle here?? NOT a good look, silly Ryan.
BALTANAS, Spain — Lance Armstrong fractured his collarbone Monday during a race in Spain, leaving in question his participation in the Tour de France in July. The seven-time Tour champion said he will fly to the United States and meet with medical experts to decide whether he needs surgery. "We'll go from there," he said. "I think for the Tour it's a very big problem."
Collarbone is probably the single most broken bone in cycling. Some pro riders have had pins/hardware installed rather than wait the six weeks (or more) before racing again. Lance will likely do something similar to reduce the impact on his season. I'm only surprised he's never broken it before: it is as common as road rash among bike racers.
or that.
