Phil Spector to face murder re-trial

An attempt by Phil Spector to avoid re-standing trial for the alleged murder of struggling B-movie actress Lana Jackson – the jury at the first trail failed to reach a verdict and his defence team were pleading double jeopardy - has been rejected by a Californian court. This means the legendary music producer and creator of pop music’s "wall of sound" will now be back in the dock in October on the same charge - second degree murder.

His legal team will argue (again) that Jackson committed suicide – she was said to be despondent about her failing career - and put forward forensic evidence that proves Spector could not have pulled the trigger.

One of the crucial questions was whether Spector could have been close enough to the victim to have been able to shoot her in the mouth. His lawyer, Linda Kenney-Baden, told jurors the absence of gunshot residue and blood from his sleeves showed he had not fired the fatal shot, and it was this that which led to a deadlock among the jurors.