THE
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2007
NEWS
9A
CRIME
Clarkson murder case ends in mistrial
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Music producer Phil Spector sits next to his attorney Linda Kenny Baden, right, after his murder trial ended in a mistrial Wednesday at the Los Angeles Superior Court.
LOS ANGELES — A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the murder case against music producer Phil Spector when the jury reported for a second time that it could not reach a verdict on whether he killed actress Lana Clarkson more than four years ago.
The mistrial came after months of a trial in which jurors had to decide who pulled the trigger of a revolver — leaving no fingerprints — that went off in Clarkson's mouth on early Feb. 3, 2003.
The prosecution did not immediately say whether it will seek a retrial. A hearing was set for Oct. 3.
The jury foreman told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler the split was 10-2 but did not say which way the panel leaned. A week earlier, the foreman had reported a 7-5 split.
Spector and his wife, Rachelle, left the courthouse shortly after the mistrial.
The jury had met for about 44 hours over 12 days since getting the case Sept. 10.
After the initial deadlock, the judge withdrew a jury instruction that he decided misstated the law and issued a new one giving examples of what panelists could draw from the evidence, including the possibility that Spector forced Clarkson to place the gun in her own mouth.
Fidler polled the jury, and each member agreed that a unanimous decision was not possible.
"At this time, I will find that the jury is unable to arrive at a verdict and declare a mistrial in this matter," the judge said.
Prosecutors had charged Spector under a second-degree murder theory that did not require premeditation or intent.
They called women from his past who claimed he threatened them with guns when they tried to leave his presence, and a chauffeur who testified that on the fateful morning Spector came out of his home with a gun in hand and said, "I think I killed somebody," while Clarkson's body sat slumped in a foyer chair behind him.
The defense countered with a scientific case, suggesting Spector did not fire the gun and offered forensic evidence that she killed herself — either intentionally or by accident. Gunshot residue on her hands, blood spatter on his coat and the trajectory of the bullet were the subjects of weeks of testimony from experts.
Spector, 67, rose to fame in the 1960s with the "Wall of Sound" recording technique, which revolutionized pop music. Clarkson starred in the 1985 cult film "Barbarian Queen."
Their life stories reflected different sides of the pop culture landscape.
The breadth of Spector's contributions to popular music in the 1960s and early 1970s was astounding. Early in his
"At this time, I will find that the jury is unable to arrive at a verdict and declare a mistrial in this matter."
career, he produced hits including "He's a Rebel" and "Be My Baby", which made pop stars of the Crystals and the Ronettes.
their final album, 1970's "Let it Be". From there, he went on to produce critically acclaimed solo albums by John Lennon and George Harrison. He also co-wrote and produced the
Later, after the Beatles shelved the tapes from some of their last recording sessions, he turned them into
LARRY PAUL FIDLER Superior court judge
Ben E. King standard "Spanish Harlem" and the Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" cited by BMI as the most-played song in the history of American radio.
music industry wunderkind who struck it rich in his teens and changed the face of pop music had aged into an eccentric, reclusive millionaire with a castle in the suburbs.
But by the time he met Clarkson, the
Clarkson, 40, was an ambitious dreamer, a statuesque beauty who
idolized Marilyn Monroe and chased fame but was beaten down by rejection. Friends testified that she was at the end of her rope financially and humiliated by having to take a hostess job at the House of Blues, where she met Spector.
Jurors heard of her decision to go home with Spector for a drink after the club closed at 2 a.m. Little more than three hours later, she was dead.
What happened in those three hours was never clear. Spector did not testify, and prosecutors stated no motive for him to kill her other than her apparent decision to leave the house.
No prosecution forensic expert was able to place the gun in Spector's hands. But blood spatter on his coat and in his pants pockets were analyzed by prosecution experts to suggest that showed he was the shooter.
Defense experts said he stood too far away to have shot her. Blood spatter, they said, can travel up to
6 feet.
The defendant's changing appearance during the case was a reminder that this was a show business figure on trial. During pretrial, Spector arrived in a stretch Hummer, his hair frized out. For trial, he adopted a blond pageboy reminiscent of the early Beatles. But his wife, who said she styled his hair, later changed it to a short, tousled and darker look.
The couple usually dressed in color-coordinated outfits. Spector wore long, foppish frock coats with vests, colorful shirts and ties. A diminutive figure, he always wore boots with high Cuban-style heels. Rachelle Spector wore stiletto heels, and the couple appeared to totter as they walked down the hall flanked by bodyguards.
Rachele Spector, 27, whose Web site says she is a singer, songwriter and trombone player, married Spector nearly a year ago and was with him every day of the trial.
>> NATION
New mom gets extra test breaks to pump milk
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — A Harvard student must be allowed extra break time during her nine-hour medical licensing exam so she can pump breast milk to feed her 4-month-old daughter, a Massachusetts appeals court judge ruled Wednesday.
Sophie Currier, 33, sued after the National Board of Medical Examiners turned down her request to take more than the standard 45 minutes in breaks during the exam.
Currier said she risks medical complications if she does not nurse her daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours.
A Superior Court judge last week rejected Currier's request to order the board to give her an additional 60 minutes of break time. Appeals Court Judge Gary Katzmann overturned that ruling, finding that Currier needs the break time to put her on "equal footing" with the men and non-lactating women who take the exam.
"I think it's a big step for women, all nursing and working moms." Currier said.
The board had cited a need to be consistent in the amount of break time given and said other nursing mothers who have taken the exam found 45 minutes sufficient.
But Katzmann said that amount of break time was "insufficient" for Currier to nurse her baby, properly express breast milk, eat, drink and use the restroom over the course of the nine-hour exam.
"Under either avenue, (Currier) is placed at significant disadvantage in comparison to her peers," Katzmann wrote in his 26-page ruling.
The board plans to appeal, board attorney Joseph Savage said.
The board, a Philadelphiabased nonprofit corporation, is responsible for administering the test, which is used by boards of medicine across the country to license physicians.
MEDICINE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Preliminary tests show new pill slows spread of skin cancer
BARCELONA, Spain An early test of an experimental drug seemed to slow the spread of advanced deadly skin cancer in a small study, the drug's U.S. developer reported in preliminary findings Wednesday.
Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Lexington, Mass., reported that patients with advanced melanoma who got the drug survived an average of 3.7 months without new cancer lesions, compared to 1.8 months for those who got the standard treatment.
The treatment, given as a pill, is
so early in development it doesn't have a name. It must pass muster in much more rigorous testing before the company seeks U.S. approval.
Synta's drug is one of several in development by other companies trying a new strategy against cancer — killing tumor cells by overloading them with oxygen.
"We are taking advantage of the Achilles heel of cancer cells," said Dr. Anthony Williams, vice president of clinical research at Synta Pharmaceuticals.
The drug has no effect on normal cells, which can adjust to higher levels of oxygen that cause cancer cells
to self-destruct.
Doctors who heard the results at the European Cancer Organization meeting were heartened but said further study is needed.
"This could have a profound effect on patients," said Dr. Alex Eggermont, president-elect of the European Cancer Organization and a surgical oncology professor at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Eggermont was not connected with the study.
pacitaxel and lived an average of 1.8 months with no new lesions, while 53 got pacitaxel plus the new drug and survived an average of 3.7 months with no new lesions.
The study followed 81 patients with advanced melanoma for about two years. Twenty-eight received the standard chemotherapy drug
Less than 5 percent of patients taking the new pill suffered serious side effects, such as a temporary drop in white blood cells, back pain and fatigue.
There are very few drugs available for people with advanced melanoma, which kills 70 percent of patients within one year. Globally, about 160,000 people have it.
The company plans a bigger study with more than 600 patients at 150 cancer centers worldwide.
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