[Photo credit: Original Spector Photo AP Photo/Nick Ut]

• New jury hears arguments in Spector murder retrial [AP]

• Mistrial declared in Phil Spector murder case [cnn.com]

As jurors returned to deliberations in Phil Spector's murder trial Monday, the record producer's defense filed a motion asking the judge to give the panel more guidance to clarify controversial new instructions he issued last week to help break a deadlock.

After the jury reported the 7-5 impasse last week, the judge withdrew a so-called pinpoint instruction that several jurors indicated was giving them trouble.

That instruction said that in order to convict Spector the jury had to find that "the defendant must have committed an act that caused the death of Lana Clarkson," and it specified the act was pointing a gun at her, which resulted in the gun entering her mouth while in Spector's hand.

The judge decided that the instruction misstated the law by unduly limiting possibilities that the jury could consider. He gave a new instruction that included examples of inferences the jury could draw from the evidence, including the possibility that Spector forced Clarkson to place the gun in her own mouth and it went off.

Rendering the possibility that Spector talked Clarkson to death sufficient cause to convict should jostle the stalemated tribunal, who have since requested a VCR to examine unspecified evidence—possibly his limo driver's taped testimony. Should that still not sway the stubborn jurists, Fidler can always attempt to further reinterpret other previous instructions, explaining, "Remember when I said the defendant's unsuccessful attempt at getting inside the victim's pants and his penchant for showing up to court in funny wigs should have no bearing on your decision? Scrap that. The law in fact states that all that stuff is more than enough to convict."

• Spector defense seeks new instructions as jury deliberates [usatoday.com/AP]

The judge told lawyers he was considering allowing the panel to consider a lesser charge, but later decided against making involuntary manslaughter an option for the jurors.

If the deadlock persists and a mistrial is declared, prosecutors would have three options: seek a new trial of Spector, pursue a plea bargain or drop the charges.

The judge ruled in August that the jury would consider only second-degree murder, saying the facts of the case did not support lesser offenses. Involuntary manslaughter involves causing a death through extremely careless acts.

We're not sure what the law recognizes as a "careless act," but it would seem to us that the administering of an "intra-oral" gunshot wound followed by the defendant stumbling outside with a gun in his hand and telling his limo driver, "I think I killed somebody," would definitely qualify as one. Nevertheless, the lack of a verdict compromise brings us one step closer to mistrial and the very real prospect of Spector getting off, only to be picked up by Vegas police a decade later for waving a gun in the face of a rock n' roll memorabilia collector he claims stole the napkin on which he scribbled the lyrics to Da Doo Ron Ron and the lucky wig he wore the day he was declared a free man.

• Judge: Spector Can't Be Convicted Of Manslaughter [cbs2.com]

"It is possible I may give you further instructions tomorrow," Fidler told the nine men and three women on the jury. He warned the jury that he might ask the lawyers to reargue a part of the instructions.

"Just set the case aside for the rest of the day," he said and then dismissed them for the day

Fidler will meet with the defense and prosecution to discuss what is next. Earlier, he had suggested that he might consider a lesser charge than second-degree murder.

When Fidler brought the jury back he questioned the foreman, Juror 10, a civil engineer.

The foreman said the jury was split 7-5, but wasn't allowed to say what the position of the majority was.

"I believe it comes down to individual jurors," the foreman said. "At this time we don't believe anything will change the positions of the jurors."

Fidler then polled the jury.

At least three jurors indicated that something more might be done to force a verdict. They cited questions about reasonable doubt.

We suppose we'll have to wait and see if tomorrow's reargued instructions prove more effective in helping the jury confidently return a verdict; hopefully, the frustrated prosecution can resist the temptation to succumb to a mistrial-inducing impulse to blurt out, "What do we need to do, hand him a gun and see if he shoots the stenographer, then tries to explain that she followed him into court today to finally indulge her suicidal impulses?," ruining untold months of hard work.

• Spector jury says it's at an impasse [LAT]

• Phil Spector field trip - in pictures [LAist]

Dressed in a gray suit, blue shirt and patterned tie, Bay initially seemed nervous on the witness stand. After he offered jurors a list of his films, Jackson noted that he had forgotten one, "Bad Boys II."

"Oh, yes," Bay said.

Later, the judge asked him to wait for the lawyers to complete their questions before beginning to answer.

"That's what we do in my business, too," he said, shaking his head and muttering to himself, "stepping on my lines."

On cross-examination, a defense lawyer attempted to use Bay's appearance to suggest Clarkson had little talent and therefore limited prospects. Attorney Bradley Brunon asked Bay if he had ever cast Clarkson in any of the many roles in his movies.

"Uh, no, but I never offered Tom Hanks a part either," Bay answered.

"We're not talking about Tom Hanks. He may not have accepted," Brunon shot back.

Despite the brief momentum gained by that tart riposte, the defense's ensuing line of Tom Hanks-related questioning quickly petered out, as the attorney sensed that the jury wasn't inclined to believe that Hanks now teeters on the brink of self-harm because of Bay's emotionally cruel refusal to offer him the Transformers role that ultimately went to Shia Labeouf, depriving the beloved actor of participation in one of this summer's most successful blockbusters.

[Photo: AP]

• Director Michael Bay says he did not snub actress at party before she died at Spector mansion [Court TV]
• Previously: Michael Bay To Take The Stand In Spector Trial [Defamer]

The prosecution unveils a list of 13 rebuttal witnesses, and one name is a blockbuster. Moviemaker Michael Bay, director of "Transformers," will take the stand and say that Punkin Pie was lying when she testified that he snubbed a teetering-on-the-brink-of-sanity Clarkson at a party a few weeks before her death, prosecutor Jackson says.

Bay, unfortunately, has offered no comment on this development on MichaelBay.com, where he previously had posted his unexpurgated thoughts about Punkin Pie and her accusations. We have no idea whether or not Punkin will be present during Bay's testimony, but her attendance could certainly make for an entertaining moment where he's asked to identify for the jury the "disgusting piece of shit" he referred to in that blog post.

• Director to take the stand [Court TV Spector Blog]
• Previously: Michael Bay Refutes Report Of Suicide-Inducing Clarkson Snubbing [Defamer]

"It never happened," he said in a telephone interview from Japan. "Wouldn't it be a big moment in one's life if you saw someone at a party, and two days later she was killed? Life's made of memories, and that would be a big memory."

Punkin Pie Laughlin, a nightclub promoter who said Clarkson was her closest friend, testified earlier this month that the 40-year-old cult actress was depressed about her faltering acting career, had financial problems and was a heavy drinker. [...]

Laughlin testified that Clarkson was so fragile she broke into tears when Bay, whose most recent film is "Transformers," did not recognize her at a party days before her death.

The defense presented Laughlin's testimony to bolster its contention that Clarkson killed herself.

Bay said he spoke to prosecutors to contest Laughlin's televised account. He also posted a detailed denial on his website.

While exactly what Bay said during his phonecall is unclear from the LAT's report on his testimony, in the "detailed denial" he published on his website, he didn't try to sugarcoat his feelings about Punkin's testimony, as illustrated in this excerpt from a post diplomatically titled "That Phil Spector Freak" :

So this is the Spector creep's only alibi - she committed suicide - come on.

I knew Lana. She worked with me on two commercials. I liked her energy - she had a great personality. I would never forget her face. It would be a big event in someone's life If you saw a woman you knew at a party on Saturday night and she was dead two days later, don't you think? I never saw Lana at this party. This Punkin, witness lady is a liar! According to reports, Punkin has a book deal about being Lana's friend. She wants to make money off of her so called 'friend'. What a disgusting piece of shit that Pumkin [sic] lady is!!!

Hopefully, Bay's subtle attack on Punkin's character will end his unexpected and regrettable involvement in this legal circus, which hardly needs yet another sensationalist sideshow to complicate matters. But maybe some good can come of the situation; even if the snubbing incident was completely fabricated, perhaps Bay will gain a new awareness of how much sway he holds over the emotions of those he encounters at social obligations, and will strive to pretend to recognize each and every struggling actress who approaches him, no matter how little he may want to sleep with them.

• Director denies snubbing Clarkson [LAT]
• That Phil Spector Freak [MichaelBay.com

[Laughlin] finished her third day on the stand in the Spector murder trial. She was the latest in a string of defense witnesses who testified that Clarkson was depressed about financial woes, her lack of career prospects and a recent failed romantic relationship.

"In your memory, do you recall telling anyone, 'We need to fry that bastard for killing Clarkson?' " Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson asked Laughlin.

"I don't remember ever saying that," she replied to several versions of the same question. [...]

[I]n her testimony, Laughlin told of Clarkson being at the end of her rope, but in interviews with homicide investigators just after the death, she gave no indication that Clarkson was dangerously depressed. [...]

"I had to hold back things," Laughlin said. "I didn't want to hurt people."

It falls now to the jury to assess the credibility of a woman who has adopted a Thanksgiving dessert mainstay as her nom de promoteur, and the defense's case in general, who'd have them believe that what we have here isn't a murder scene, but a near-perfect eHarmony coupling of a woman-hating gun nut paired with a failed actress bent on ending her own life.

• Witness says she doesn't recall saying Spector should 'fry' [LAT]

Following the testimony of Vincent DiMaio, a forensics expert who also happens to have keen insight into the depressive states of minds of 40-something actresses who find themselves losing parts to Paris Hilton, the defense called today John Barons, a local playwright and one of the last people to work professionally with Clarkson. The project was called Brentwood Blondes—a play, ominously enough, about three legendary Hollywood blondes who met untimely ends:

Her main motivation was to be known," Barons said. "It's not like she wanted to be in Dostoyevsky and that she wanted to do Shakespeare ... or even Tennessee Williams. The passion was more to be a famous actress," he said. [...]

The play was a fantasy which envisioned an afterlife in which Monroe, actress Sharon Tate and a Nicole Brown Simpson were talking about dying at the hands of others, though Monroe's real death is a probable suicide. Dixon asked Barons who the play suggests killed Monroe. "Joseph Kennedy Sr.," Barons said. [...]

Later, he said, he rewrote the play to include a fourth Brentwood Blonde, Lana Clarkson.

It's a dizzying hall of mirrors that could only exist in the pulpiest of Hollywood noir (or at least in a mildly diverting episode of Murder, She Wrote): A bombshell plays a bombshell killed under mysterious circumstances, only to be killed herself, and wind up yet another ghostly character in the same story. It's all spookily foreboding, meant by the defense to once again plant the seed in jurors' minds that Clarkson, who was fired from the play for being too difficult to work with, was a failing actress with death on her mind. The tactic might have proven more effective if they hadn't just heard about the time Spector had to be forcibly ejected from a party for threatening to shoot every woman present in the head.

[Photo: strangepolice.com]

• Witness in Spector trial says fame was Clarkson's goal [USAToday/AP]