Phil Spector trial jury visits mansion — site of '03 death

ALHAMBRA, Calif. — Phil Spector and his wife somberly stood arm in arm Thursday as they watched jurors weave under crystal chandeliers, past a suit of armor and to the red-carpeted foyer in the music producer's mansion, where actress Lana Clarkson died.

In every room there were blowup photos that have been in evidence at Spector's murder trial. There were several photographs of Clarkson's body slumped in a chair in the foyer.

Some jurors sat in a replica of the chair, mimicking the position in which she was found on Feb. 3, 2003, dead of a bullet wound through the mouth.

Prosecutors say Spector killed the 40-year-old actress when she tried to leave the house. Defense lawyers say she killed herself.

Jurors and lawyers arrived at the home, 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles, shortly before 10:30 a.m.

After jurors took a first run-through of the house, they gathered outside and formulated a list of things that they wanted to see and do, which they presented to Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler.

They were denied a request to see a room upstairs where Spector's blood-spattered jacket was found. They requested a virtual re-enactment of Clarkson's death, asking whether someone could close the doors and set off a loud noise inside while they waited outside. They also asked if someone could stand in the doorway and speak in a normal voice.

After conferring with the lawyers, the judge rejected both requests.

During the visit, several jurors also sat in a car in the courtyard that was placed there to replicate the vehicle in which Spector's chauffeur was sitting when he said he heard Spector at a door to the home saying, "I think I killed somebody."

The chauffeur's statements have been attacked by the defense, which contends he could not have clearly heard what Spector said.

Spector is accused of murdering Clarkson after she went home with him for a drink. The question of where Spector was standing when she was shot and how far blood can travel have been key issues in the case.

Prosecutors contend that blood spatter on Spector's jacket got there when he shot Clarkson. The defense says Clarkson shot herself and the spatter could have hit him when he stood as far as six feet away.

Spector, 67, gained fame with his "Wall of Sound" music recording technique on hits such as "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Clarkson found modest fame as the star of a cult movie, "Barbarian Queen," in the 1980s, but was working as a club hostess when she died.