Phil Spector's defense team brought their side of the case to its end as the accused confirmed he would not take the stand. He was never expected to, as the defense had built their case around scientific evidence that they believe shows his innocence. Well, that, and the fact that he'd probably do more harm than good for himself if he took the stand.
Judge Fidler addressed Spector directly and said, "The defense, as a matter of strategy for whatever reason, has indicated to me they are not calling you as a witness. That right is solely yours. Even if your counsel told you, 'We don't want you to testify,' if it was your decision that you wanted to testify, that would control. So basically, understanding that, do you wish to waive and give up your right to testify in this matter?"
Spector, shaky as always, simply said, "yes." And with that, the defense rested their case.
Meanwhile, the prosecution is having a field day with their rebuttal case, calling yet another woman who claims to have been menaced by Phil Spector. We get it. Phil Spector likes to menace women with guns. And threaten to blow their brains out. He also has been known to threaten bands with guns. But all these women and bands have lived to tell the tales -- so does this testimony really help establish Phil Spector as a murderer?
Meanwhile, the defense was delivered another swift blow by Judge Fidler, who ruled the jury would be told of the defense's violation of evidence discovery laws. This relates to the strongest and most compelling witness the defense called -- Dr. Michael Baden -- and his "surprise" theory that Lana Clarkson lived for a few minutes after the gunshot wound. Baden claimed it was an "ah-ha!" moment, and something he realized late in the game, but the prosecution was blindsided by this revelation and asked that the testimony be removed from the record.
The judge refused to remove the testimony, but will inform the jury that the prosecution was taken by surprise by Baden's statement.
In a heated debate, defense attorney Bradley Brunon accused Judge Fidler of "putting a thumb on the scale to favor prosecutors." And while he retracted the comment, largely due to the angry reaction of the judge, anyone paying close attention to the trial can see the judge absolutely has favored the prosecution since day one -- and all but cut the legs out from under the defense whenever possible.
Although both sides have rested their cases, the rebuttal case and any lingering details should send the case well into the month of September, which is longer than initial estimates of "2-3 months." Nonetheless, Phil Spector's fate is going to be decided sooner than later, and while I will flat-out say I dont think he did this, nor do I think the prosecution had a particularly strong case, I do think his team dropped the ball hard enough that he may well spend the rest of his life in prison.
But I hope I'm wrong on that.
