Jury Sentences Phil Spector to Nineteen Years to Life for Murder

By Sarah Harper

Published on June 06, 2009

On Friday a jury sentenced music producer Phil Spector to 19 years to life in prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The sentence also mandated that Spector pay $17,000 to Clarkson's mother, to cover the victim's funeral expenses. The judge denied the defense's motion for a new trial.

The sentence concludes several years of litigation; the Spector trials began in 2007. His first trial ended in mistrial in 2007. His second trial ended last month when, after deliberating for 30 hours, jurors pronounced him guilty of second-degree murder.

In February 2003, authorities found Clarkson dead at Spector's Alhambra, California residence with a gunshot wound through the roof of her mouth. The pair had returned to Spector's residence after meeting in a bar. In Spector's first trial, the defense argued her death could have been a suicide.

Spector's attorney reportedly plans on filing an appeal. Spector's wife remains supportive of her husband.

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