Court Rejects Halt in Spector's Retrial

Phil Spector will head back to court on Oct. 2 for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson

By Jovie Baclayon Aug 16, 2008 3:30 PMTags
Phil SpectorAP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Three days is all the extra time Phil Spector is going to get.

On Friday, a California appeals court rejected his lawyers' request to halt the music producer's retrial for the 2003 murder of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson. They wanted to appeal the case on double jeopardy grounds and make sure prosecutors would not ask the jury to convict Spector, 68, on lesser charges of manslaughter.

The panel scheduled the retrial for Oct. 2, three days after its original start date.

Spector's first courthouse showdown was declared a mistrial when the jury was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of a second-degree murder conviction.