Phil Spector stared straight ahead. It was the appointed hour for the legendary music producer's six-year murder case to come to a close and the courtroom was packed with reporters, fans and detractors eager to hear his sentence. But he did not look at the judge, take notes or whisper to his lawyer.
For Spector, it seemed, it wasn't worth it. A life sentence is mandatory for second-degree murder and the only decision before the judge Friday was whether Spector, 69, should have his first parole hearing in 2027, 2028 or 2034.
After listening to arguments, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler chose 2028. As the judge told Spector that he would have to serve at least 19 years in prison -- at which time he would be 88 -- he remained stoic.
Spector declined an opportunity to address the court and moments later, surrounded by court officers, he shuffled out a side door.
It was a quiet end to a legal proceeding that has intrigued the public since Feb. 3, 2003, when actress Lana Clarkson was shot to death in the foyer of Spector's Alhambra mansion. A jury convicted him of Clarkson's murder last month, a year and a half after another panel deadlocked.
A prosecutor called the sentence “a message" that justice is blind in Los Angeles even when the defendant is a music icon. “No matter your fame or your wealth or your supposed celebrity, you will stand trial and you will be held accountable," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson.
Spector's lawyer said his client was focused on his appeal and eager to get through with the sentencing so he could move to a prison facility nicer than the jail where he has been held since the conviction.
Before the sentencing, Clarkson's mother, Donna, a constant presence at both trials, told the judge that her heartbreak over her daughter's death was intensified because of the way she was portrayed in court. The defense painted the 40-year-old as a failed actress who killed herself while battling depression.
Donna Clarkson, dressed in a black suit adorned with a ribbon of leopard skin -- her daughter's favorite fashion accent -- said she often wanted to interrupt the proceedings to defend her daughter's memory.
“I am very proud of Lana and the wonderful and special person she was," she said. Her voice choking, she added, “All our plans together are destroyed. Now I can only visit her in the cemetery."
“I miss you so," she whispered. With the criminal case over, her wrongful death suit against Spector will proceed in civil court.
