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Spector Doesn't Just Hate Women, Says Lawyer

December 1, 2008 12:33 PM

Photo: Rector/Getty

As legendary producer Phil Spector's retrial in the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson continues to heat up, the L.A. Times reports today on the "strategic" plan employed by his defense.

As you remember, Spector's first trial in the Clarkson case resulted in a hung jury, with ten jurors ready to convict.

This time around, Spector's lawyer Doron Weinberg is suggesting that his client's erratic behavior -- including threatening women with guns -- is just par for the course, and that Spector's threatening behavior has not only been directed at women, but men as well.

The Times says, "Questioning prosecution witnesses, Weinberg has seized on instances in which Spector drew weapons on men or carried firearms in the course of his daily life. [Weinberg] asked a woman who alleges Specter pistol-whipped her when they were dating in the early 90's to recount a time when the producer pulled a revolver on a group of young men who mistook him for the actor Dudley Moore."

The woman, Dorothy Melvin, testified, "All of a sudden he was chasing them down the street."

Defending his defense, Weinberg stated, "The alternative is allowing the jury to believe Mr. Spector hates women and women only."

Law professors interviewed by the Times suggest that Weinberg is a dope. "The jurors common sense is going to tell them that the more somebody waves a gun, the better the chance that it's going to go off," says USC law professor Jean Rosenbluth.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Spector faces a minimum of 18 years in the slammer.