Ah, the Phil Spector trial. Remember that? Well, it's still rumbling on, and yesterday there was yet another dramatic development. As testimony on the long running case reached its conclusion, Spector's high profile though often absent lead defence lawyer Bruce Cutler announced he was quitting the case. He told the court he'd had a "difference of opinion" with the legendary producer regarding the case. Whether that "difference of opinion" had anything to do with Cutler's decision to fight Spector's corner by not attending much of the trial at all, and keeping in touch with developments via TV coverage, we don't know. Either way, Cutler told the court: "There's nothing I can do for Mr Spector. I can no longer effectively represent him". Outside the courtroom Spector himself said he felt Cutler "shouldn't do the closing argument because it wouldn't be in my best interest".
The defence have been presenting their evidence for weeks now, though much of it has centred on those previously reported two lines of argument - one that forensic evidence is not sufficient to convict Spector and, if anything, points to his innocence, and two that Lana Clarkson, the actress Spector is accused of shooting dead, was very depressed in the run up to her death, and was most likely, they argue, feeling suicidal the night she was shot.
As much previously reported, prosecutors claim a slightly loopy Spector shot Clarkson at his Beverly Hills home in 2003. He claims she shot herself. Closing arguments in the case will be presented next Wednesday and Thursday before jury deliberations begin on Friday.