Witness: Spector Said All Women Deserve a Bullet

After a weeklong break, the Phil Spector trial got down and dirty again today.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler reversed a previous decision and allowed Vincent Tannazzo to take the stand Monday, despite the defense's argument that what the former security guard had to say amounted to "character assassination."

Tannazzo, also a retired New York police officer, testified that on two occasions in the mid-1990s he heard Spector say, among other ominous things, that "they all deserve a bullet in their head," with "they" referring to women.

Spector has been accused of drunkenly killing Lana Clarkson by shooting her in the mouth on Feb. 3, 2003, in the hallway of his Alhambra mansion, where the actress accompanied the famed music producer after meeting him only hours before at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. She had been working at the club's VIP-area Foundation Room as a hostess.

The defense is contending, meanwhile, that Clarkson accidentally shot herself.

Tannazzo described accompanying Spector and his date, Joan Rivers' then-manager Dorothy Melvin, from a Christmas party at Rivers' apartment down to the lobby. Spector and Melvin had just had a spat.

He quickly frisked Spector and felt a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants, Tannazzo said, and when they reached the lobby, Spector's hand moved toward his hip.

"I told Phil Spector if he pulls out that gun I'll blow his [expletive] head off," Tannazzo said, demonstrating to the court why Fidler was previously disinclined to allow the ex-cop's testimony. (He reconsidered today, ruling that Tannazzo's comments were important enough to outweigh any possibly prejudicial effects.)

"No, no, I'm cool. I love cops," Spector said, according to Tannazzo. The Wall of Sound creator then pulled out a badge and said, "I'm a sheriff from North Carolina."

While he was waiting outside with Spector for his limousine, Spector made a number of derogatory comments about women, Tannazzo said, including that remark about them all deserving to take a bullet, which the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said about five times.

The following year, as well, Spector made a similar comment, Tannazzo testified. Spector had been thrown out of Rivers' Christmas party and was waiting for the elevator when he saw a random woman walk out and said, "I ought to put a bullet in her [expletive] head right now."

Spector took a few steps toward the woman before Tannazzo grabbed him and ushered him off to his limo, the erstwhile security guard told the court. He hadn't detected a weapon on Spector's person at the time, he added.

Melvin was one of four women who testified in April and May that Spector once threatened her with a gun while under the influence of alcohol. Melvin said that Spector brandished a revolver at her at his Pasadena home in July 1993 and then followed her down the driveway holding a shotgun when she tried to leave.

"I expect a return call, but be careful what you say to me. Nothing you say to me is worth your life. Goodbye, Dorothy," Spector said in a message to Melvin that the prosecution played in court.

When defense attorney Roger Rosen asked him why he didn't call the police when he discovered Spector was toting a gun that one time, Tannazzo said that he needed to hear a complaint before he could report it.  

Although the defense launched its own case two weeks ago, the L.A. District Attorney's Office's case still hasn't technically rested, pending the result of Sara Caplan's contempt charge. Fidler ruled June 18 that the former Spector attorney was in contempt for refusing to testify for the prosecution about supposedly seeing forensics expert Henry Lee pick up something in Spector's foyer the day after Clarkson died.

Fidler has ruled that Lee did pocket some evidence and that the defense never turned it over to prosecutors, a charge that Lee has adamantly denied. He is still in line to take the stand for the defense sometime next week, although he told Connecticut's Hartford Courant last month that he's unsure if he'll testify now that the case is bringing him so much negative publicity.

Lee, whose testimony about the blood spatter and other physical evidence at the scene was said to have been key to the defense's case, downplayed his importance.

"My findings not that important at all. Nine to 10 other expert witnesses will say the same thing. They don't really need me," Lee told the Courant.

The California Supreme Court stayed Fidler's ruling against Caplan on June 28 and, due to the July 4 holiday last week, the earliest the high court will be able to hear the case is July 11.

Earlier Monday, an L.A. firefighter-paramedic who treated Clarkson after she broke both wrists in 2001 testified that she was given morphine for her injuries.

The defense has alleged that Clarkson was battling depression when she died, although the coroner who ruled her death a homicide testified last month that he considered Clarkson a "hopeful person" whose career was getting back on track.

In other important news, Spector has ditched his blonde bob for a brown layered shag.

Not in court to witness the makeover was onetime lead defense attorney Bruce Cutler, who has taken a break from the trial to shoot the syndicated reality show Jury Duty, which is set to premiere Sept. 17. Cutler will serve as the "judge" as people present their small-claims cases in front of a three-person celebrity jury.

Phyllis Diller, Ed Begley Jr., Dick Van Patten, Tiffany, Kevin Sorbo, Bruce Vilanch, Paula Poundstone and Scott Hamilton are among those set to take part, according to the Hollywood Reporter.