Shirley Jahad: Good afternoon, I'm Shirley Jahad. It's 3:33. This is 89.3 KPCC. A murder conviction today against Phil Spector. The jury found the famed music producer guilty of second-degree murder. That after a previous trial ended in a hung jury. KPCC's Patricia Nazario was at the courthouse downtown and joins us now live. Hi, Patricia.
Patricia Nazario: Hey Shirley.
Jahad: Well, the verdict announced just about an hour ago, and you've had the chance now to talk to some of the jurors, and so share with us some of their thoughts.
Nazario: Well, the jury forewoman came forward and spoke on the behalf of the other people in the jury. She said that she didn't believe a group of 11 people could have taken this more seriously.
She said that they examined every bit of information piece by piece, and at one point, she got teary and she said it was a very difficult decision, because at the end of the day, they were very aware that this was a human. You know, we all have hearts, we all have people that we love, and they were deciding something that was going to change Spector's life.
Jahad: Now, in the trial, in both trials, prosecutors pointed to the fact that Spector had a pattern of actually pointing guns at women. What did the jurors say about that in reaching this verdict?
Nazario: Jurors said that they considered
all of the evidence, and this is a sticking point, and this is a point that Spector's attorneys brought up when they said they would appeal this decision, because they said that they wanted the verdict to come back based on the scientific evidence.
And they felt like the scientific evidence would have freed up their client, that Spector would not have been convicted on the scientific evidence. But they felt like what skewed in the direction of the guilty verdict was the prosecution brought up some female witnesses, these previous women who had said he had done this to them in the past.
And so the attorneys said that it was not legal and that this was going to be the very basis that they bring their appeal back on. As far as the jurors, they said that they looked at
every bit of information, so they weren't really clear on why they went beyond a manslaughter verdict, but they said it was a result of examining every bit of information.
Jahad: What are prosecutors saying this afternoon?
Nazario: Well, the prosecutors felt like justice has been served. They said that it was a difficult case, that these cases are always difficult when you're trying to press murder charges.
But at the end of the day, they felt like they presented a credible case and that they, that the jurors, they credit the jurors with being able to understand the information that was brought before them, and took the time to really examine everything and come back with a valid verdict.
There was also, Shirley, a family representative from the Lawson family who spoke, and he said that the family was pleased. That they weren't happy, because at the end of the day, this is still a tragedy, but that they were pleased with the verdict.
Jahad: Sentencing is coming up in May, and again, you're saying that the defense attorneys have come forward already to say that they're planning an appeal, right?
Nazario: Right. They said that they are planning an appeal unequivocally, and probably Spector will be in custody until the appeal is resolved, if it is to go in his favor in the long run. But there is no immediate change. They don't feel like he is going to get out on any kind of bond or anything like that.
But again, they said that they really want to bring this back in front of a judge, and they want to focus on that point of the other female witnesses that were brought before the jury, as opposed to deciding the case on scientific evidence.
Jahad: Thanks so much. KPCC's Patricia Nazario reporting for us from the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Again, Phil Spector taken into custody immediately after the verdict announced, guilty of second-degree murder.
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