Judge: 'No Smoking Gun' in Spector Deposition
Phil Spector said he made the rounds at upscale restaurants but did not drink heavily or use drugs the night actress Lana Clarkson was killed in his mansion, according to a civil trial deposition.
But Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler said he found "no smoking gun" in the remarks, released Friday.
The documents were ordered released to prosecutors by the judge in Spector's upcoming murder trial. The deposition was taken in July 2005 as part of a civil court lawsuit he filed against his former attorney, Robert Shapiro, over a retainer fee.
Spector, 65, known for creating rock music's "wall of sound," has pleaded not guilty in Clarkson's death and is free on $1 million bail. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Shapiro, who was one of O.J. Simpson's lawyers, pressed Spector for details of the hours before he met Clarkson and took her to his home.
Spector gave now familiar facts: that he went out with two different women that night, and took them to Dan Tana's and The Grill, two upscale restaurants, before he went to House of Blues. He said he didn't drink much early in the night and left lavish tips of $100 for waiters. On the advice of his attorney, Spector did not answer most of Shapiro's questions about Clarkson or House of Blues, invoking his right against self-incrimination.
He also told Shapiro that he did not recall telling a reporter after the shooting that he was "borderline insane," which he defined as somebody "who's not there all the time."
When asked if that described him, Spector replied, "Yeah, because I've been called a genius and I think a genius is not there all the time and has borderline insanity." But he said he was not "borderline insane" at the time of Clarkson's death.