The Phil Spector Trial: We Watch Court TV So You Don't Have To (06/28)

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY? The defense's first witness, forensic pathologist Vincent DiMaio, was back on the stand yesterday. It seemed like it was going to be a good day for Phil Spector. The morning showed DiMaio eloquently reasoning why, in his professional opinion, Lana Clarkson killed herself. But just when you thought, "Hey, maybe there is reasonable doubt here," prosecutor Alan Jackson cross-examined the witness, and it was all downhill from that point on for Spector. DiMaio, a statue in the morning, was reduced to a stammering, angry hired gun in the afternoon session as Jackson flustered the expert with questions pertaining to bias and scientific objectivity.

IS THIS GOOD OR BAD FOR SPECTOR? Bad. Jackson manhandled DiMaio, especially when the prosecutor queried DiMaio regarding his total pay thus far as a Spector witness. The answer of $26,400 shocked the jury.

HAIR & WARDROBE UPDATE: Spector, who didn't recognize his estranged adopted son when he walked into court, wore a black pinstripe suit, brown shirt and a tiger-print tie.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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