Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Pirates Are Taking Command On The High Sea While Phil Spector Gets Convicted!


Pirates are in the news. And we are not talking baseball in Pittsburg. Real Pirates hijacked a 35,000-ton Greek-owned bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday. This comes on the heals of pirates capturing the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. As the world knows, the crew was unhurt and three pirates were killed by U.S. Navy Seals. The crew was unhurt and ships have been warned to stay clear of the area for fear of further attack.


U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was captained by Richard Phillips who was held hostage. A fourth pirate was arrested. Watch Navy Tactics. The fourth pirate is believed to be around 16 years old.
In the mean time, pirates in the area pledge that they will seek revenge for the death of the three pirates. Speaking about justice as a result of death, get a load of Katfish's story on Phil Spector:
Phil Spector Gets Convicted by Katfish:
Monday, April 13, after a trial that lasted almost 6 months and after nearly 30 hours of deliberations, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury convicted Phil Spector, an eccentric music producer of the 60's for the second degree- murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The jury also found Spector guilty of using a fire arm to commit the crime. For video coverage of the verdict and the pressor after the verdict click here.

Second-degree murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison. The use-of-a-gun enhancement adds three, four or 10 years in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.This isn’t the first time that Phil Spector has faced a jury on these charges. The first jury deadlocked 10-2, favoring conviction in 2007.
Phil Spector’s claim to fame has not only been as the inventor of the “Wall Of Sound” recording technique, but also as the producer of teen anthems and working with a number of recording artists from The Crystals to the Righteous Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner to the Beatles.Spector’s first claim to fame was “To Know Him Is to Love Him" a song written by Phil Spector and recorded by his first band, the Teddy Bears, that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958. The chorus of the song is “To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him. And I do, yes I do.”
After Spector’s most recent claim to fame, being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of a film actress at his mansion six years ago and this conviction on that charge, we might rewrite that chorus to read…To know, know, know him is to convict, convict, convict him. And we did, yes we did.
The jury heard from prosecutors that Spector had a history of threatening women with guns when they tried to leave his presence. As in the first trial, they presented testimony from five women who told of being threatened by a drunken Spector, even held hostage in his home, with a gun pointed at them and threats of death if they tried to leave.
The defense in both trials tried to portray Lana Clarkson as an aging, depressed, has been who used Spector’s gun to kill her self.

The 40-year-old Lana Clarkson, star of the 1985 cult film “Barbarian Queen,” died of a gunshot fired in her mouth as she sat in the foyer of Spector’s mansion in 2003.
The jury also learned that Spector, 69, who had long lived in seclusion at his suburban Alhambra “castle,” was out on the town in Hollywood when he met Clarkson on Feb. 3, 2003, at the House of Blues. The tall, blond actress, who had recently turned 40 and was unable to find acting work after breaking both her wrists in a fall at Christmas 2001, had recently taken a
job as a hostess in the VIP room of the House of Blues with hopes of making some connections. When the club closed in the wee hours, she accepted a chauffeured ride to Spector’s home for a drink. Three hours later, she was dead.

Spector’s chauffeur, said he heard a gunshot, then saw Spector emerge holding a gun and heard him say: “I think I killed somebody.” IMO that was the most damning testimony of this trial, a confession of sorts or in legal terms an "excited utterance".Defense attorney Doron Weinberg said he believed the case was swayed by the judge’s erroneous rulings, particularly one that allowed the five women from Spector’s past to testify. He said it would be the basis for appeal and a request for a new trial.Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson said Monday that “justice ... was unserved up until today. Today is when the Clarkson family gets their justice.”
The jury forewoman, who refused to be identified, cried as she described how the panel made its choice. “It just is a painful decision,” she said. When asked if there was any one thing that stood out for the jury in favor of conviction she said, “ There was no one thing , we looked at all of the evidence, and based our decision on the totality of the evidence.”
Spector who has been out on a $1 Million cash bond since February 3, 2003 was remanded to custody until his sentencing on May 29.For the most in depth coverage of this case visit Sprocket’s
Trials and Tribulations blog. Sprocket attended most of the first trial and blogged about the case. When it turned out that there was very little media interest in the second trial, Sprocket attended everyday of the trial and delivered great play by play coverage of the trial. Thank You Sprocket! For more great stories by Katfish see: LINK

18 comments:

Blond Bombshell said...

I was expecting the cast from Pirate of the Caribbean. Johnie is nice and i would not mind working with him on a project some day.

Shell

Legal Pub said...

Ms. C. has up the Johnie Depp photo here:

http://pumpkinseedsandcontradictions.blogspot.com/

Legal Pub said...

Thanks for the Phil Spector story, Katfish. You are a welcomed contributor.

Mr. Noface said...

I wonder what were the ages of three pirates that were shot and killed in the rescue of the Captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama.

Anonymous said...

Ages of the other pirates not yet released, but believed to range from 15 to 19.

Ms Calabaza said...

I thought Specter was gonna walk ... The man sounds like a walking "Russian roulette". Some peace for poor Lana Clarkson's family ... although it doesn't bring her back.

Secrets said...

I'm not surprised that there was little media coverage on Phil Spector........

You have to be a black celeb (like OJ, Michael Jackson, R Kelly, Michael Vick etc) or an heiress or a child killer to get the kind of non stop, mind numbing, one sided, nefarious coverage that we've become accustomed to.

Legal Eagle 3 said...

Actually, Legal Pub covered the Spector trial.

See Thursday, September 20, 2007
Is Jessie Jackson Slinging Racial Guilt At Obama Concerning Jena's Hangman Noose While Spector Worries About A Hung Jury? Update 4-14-09.

Fact is, not a whole lot of interest in old Spector.


Legal Eagle 3

katfish said...

After watching the Clarkson's attorney at the pressor, I think the most gratifying outcome of this verdict for the Clarksons isn't seeing Spector behind bars as much as having Lana's reputation "officially" restored. Lana's memory took a lot of trashing during both trials in an effort by the Defense to convince the jury she took her own life.

The truth of the matter was that Lana was a "working actress" for over 20 years. True, she hadn't gained the fame that so few do, but she persued her dreams non- the-less. If the only people who are a "success" in Hollywood are those who gain fame and fortune then 80% of Hollywood is potentially suicidal. Shell can probably articulate about this better than I, but this is one of the things that drew me to this trial....that and the excellent level of advocating done by the prosecution in both trials and the defense in the second trial.

In the first trial(which was heavily covered and televised), after the State presented their opening and Bruce Cutler for the Defense told Judge Fidler he needed more time before his opening because he felt "denuded" after the state's opening, I was hooked. I have never seen the like.
RIP Lana Clarkson!

katfish said...

Who would have thought piracy would make a comeback in this day and age? Sounds like the pirates have been hitting the JACKPOT in ransoms...up til now...no wonder they want revenge against Americans...someone finally kicked their arsses.

Anonymous said...

Hey Katfish


Thanks for filling us in on Spector!

katfish said...

I found it interesting that Jay Leno decided to combine the pirate story with the Phil Spector case in his monologue, just as Legal Pub did in their blog.

Jay started off talking about the Pirates in Somolia news that was breaking. Then he said,
"Well as you know by now, Captain Phillips was rescued when the Navy Seals shot and killed 3 of the pirates. Although according to Phil Spector's attorney, the pirates shot themselves in the head."

Anonymous said...

Katfish, a lot of folks in the business read Legal Pub. Wait til you are in a bar and some guy tries to pick you up with small talk you know he got from the pub. Lol


Bertha

katfish said...

Well Bertha,
If someone does use a line I recognize from LP, it may just work...at least I would know they have good taste in something...besides women of course. ;~)
oops, it couldn't work I've been happily married for going on 30 years....but I would still know they have good taste!

katfish said...

Geesh, everyone is getting in on the act....



http://somalipirate.livejournal.com/1358.html


great picture of Phil.

jester said...

I think I have foundly found the katfish OF my dreams... Why i think I love you...

Jester

katfish said...

If the hook fits you must convict!


Back at ya jester!

Jester said...

Think of it this way. Justice (as is love) is blind. A pirate only has one eye with a patch over that. And we all know that the law sometimes turns a blind eye towards certain vigilante type crimes. So how can anyone possibly expect a fair trial with all that lack of 20/20?