Not that I wish to belittle serious criminal proceedings or anything, but hey Mr Prosecutor, I think we get the message, Phil Spector (allegedly) likes locking women in his house and threatening to blow their brains out, we get that. No more with these "me too" testimonies, please.
But just in case there was any doubt, two more women took to the stand in the LA court yesterday to tell their own experiences of dual personality Mr Spector, who could be an amusing charmer one minute, a gun waving loon the next.
The first testimony of the day came from photographer Stephanie Jennings, who recalled an incident in 1995 when she stayed at the Carlyle Hotel in New York in a room paid for by Spector. He was staying in another suite in the hotel and at 3am in the morning allegedly called Jennings demanding she come to his room. When she refused he showed up at her door with a handgun. He then allegedly sat in a chair in front of the door pointing the hand gun at her (presumably she'd opened the door at this point). Spector, she says, only left her alone after she called 911.
The second testimony of the day came from Melanie Grosvenor, who said she met Spector in 1991 when she was working as a waitress. She found him "very charming, quick-witted" and proceeded to have a "platonic dating relationship" with him for the next eighteen months. Which was all well and good until one night when she went to the legendary producer's Beverly Hills home for dinner. She says that at about 2am she said she was tired and was planning on leaving. Spector, she claims, then left the room and returned with a gun.
She told the court: "He walked up, held the gun to my face between my eyes and said, 'If you try to leave I'm going to kill you'. I was shocked. I started crying ... I was afraid. There was no doubt in my mind if I tried to leave he was going to kill me". She says Spector then holstered the gun and "started walking back and forth, cursing and talking crazy". Grosvenor agreed to stay to avoid further conflict and slept the night at the mansion, adding that the next morning Spector did not mention his outburst. Though, when she late declined further offers of a date, he apparently left a phone message along the lines of "I've got machine guns and I know where you live". Such a charmer.
The defence did their bit to try and throw some doubt on the latest testimonies made against their client. They say that Jennings had been less dramatic in her recalling of the Carlyle Hotel incident in the past, telling homicide detectives in 2004 that she never thought Spector would use the gun to kill anyone, and that Spector hadn't actually ever pointed the gun at her that night. But Jennings replied that while she didn't think Spector would deliberately harm her, she was frightened the gun might go off by mistake which was why, she says, she called 911. Defence lawyer Roger J Rosen also produced a contract showing Jennings had agreed to provide the National Enquirer with an interview about Spector and photos of him for $1000, presumably a bid to imply Jennings had personal interest in making the Carlyle Hotel incident more dramatic. There seemed to be less hole picking by the defence when it came to Grosvenor's story, though they did get her to admit that she was once convicted of embezzlement in Georgia, and that she later lied on an employment application when asked about her criminal history, though whether any of that damages her credibility as a witness is, I guess, for the jury to decide.
Talking of attempts at character assassination, the biggest news yesterday was probably that the defence have confirmed they are calling convicted Hollywood madam Jody 'Babydol' Gibson as a witness, who is expected to confirm that actress Lana Clarkson, the women Spector is, of course, accused of killing, once worked for her as a prostitute. Gibson will be called to testify after she wrote in her book 'Secrets Of A Hollywood Super Madam' about an anonymous "tall, blonde hooker" that she called 'Alana' and of whom Gibson wrote: "Unfortunately, this gal would make headlines... years later after being found murdered in the home of a wealthy record producer". The defence presumably hope that bringing up these revelations about Clarkson's past will sully her reputation with the jury, and presumably lend credence to the argument the actress may have been playing with gun that killed her as part of some kind of kinky sex game, and that she herself was responsible for accidentally pulling the trigger, not Spector.
The case continues.