Music producer Phil Spector wears his crazy on his sleeve just like Michael Jackson. He just looks the part of a rich, unbalanced eccentric, but despite all the circumstantial evidence that he shot a B movie actress at least two people thought it was too much of a logical leap to declare the guy a murderer. After a trial that lasted five months, and deliberations for eight days, the jury said it could not reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. The jury announced for a second time that it was hung on whether to find Spector guilty of second degree murder, and said they were divided 10-2. It is unknown which way they were leaning.

After a week of deliberation in which they remained deadlocked 7-5, the judge was considering giving the jury the option to consider an involuntary manslaughter charge, but it was not offered to them. Spectors lawyers said that would make the appeals case stronger and the judge agreed.

Spector was being tried for the February 3, 2003 murder of a B-movie actress that he picked up when she was working as a hostess at the House of Blues that night. Spector asked 40 year-old Lana Clarkson to come back to his mansion for a drink. She was found the next morning, dead in a chair in his foyer from a shot to the mouth. She had a .38 revolver at her feet and someone had tried to clean up the blood with a diaper.

Spector’s chauffeur testified that he saw him in the driveway that morning and that he said “I think I killed somebody.”

Spector’s lawyers claimed Clarkson committed suicide and was depressed in the months leading up to her death. A friend of the victim testified that she said “I don’t want to live anymore… I want to end it.” Prosecutors note that Clarkson had her purse over her shoulder, indicating that she was shot when she tried to leave.

According to evidence submitted by the defense, the blood spatter pattern on Spector’s jacket shows that he was too far away to have put the gun in Clarkson’s mouth and pulled the trigger.

Spector has a history of threatening women and it’s possible he killed Clarkson, but at least two people thought there wasn’t enough hard evidence to convict him of second degree murder.

Spector is known for his crazy permed giant afro hair, but changed his look to a bowl cut toupee in March before jury selection. He is shown in the header image with his wife, struggling actress and singer Rachelle Short. They were married in September, 2006.

R. Kelly, the super-gross most-likely child pornographer will be heading to court in September – and the weeks prior to that have been filled with pre-trial hearings. Today the judged ruled that they can show the video of Kelly having sex with the alleged 13/14 year old girl during the trial. Kelly’s defense team has had some real winners, in terms of excuses why Kelly is innocent. Part of the problem is that they’re throwing out too many of them. They’ve said the videos are newer than thought, making the alleged victim older. They’ve said that it isn’t Kelly, and that they images of him are computer generated. I’m pretty sure their next line will be about aliens having inhabited his body. The victim also claims it’s not her on the tape, though that’s a recent change in her story.

“A Cook County judge has upheld a ruling allowing the media and public to view a videotape allegedly showing singer R. Kelly having sex with an underaged girl.

“Prosecutors asked Judge Vincent Gaughan (GAWN) to reconsider his earlier decision. They say allowing it to be viewed in open court would re-victimize the girl.

“But Gaughan noted that the girl who prosecutors say is in the video has denied it was her.

“Prosecutors claim the video was made between January 1998 and October 2000, when the girl may have been as young as 13.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of child pornography.”

[From USA Today]

Let’s not forget that this is the man who married singer Aaliyah when she was 15, back in 1995, when he was 27. Wikipedia notes: “In 1995, a rumor surfaced that 15-year-old Aaliyah and 27-year-old R. Kelly had secretly married. Both camps initially denied the rumor, but VIBE magazine published a copy of their marriage license, which showed that Aaliyah’s age had been falsely listed as 18. The marriage was annulled a few months later.” So there’s a legally documented history of Kelly preferring underage girls. Anything under 17 is considered underage in most jurisdictions, including Cook County, where Kelly’s trial is taking place. I really don’t understand why this guy still has a successful career and why this hasn’t tainted his image, but I hope he gets what’s coming to him in prison.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s R. Kelly at his Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22 Premiere. Image thanks to PR Photos.