A prosecutor told a jury that Phil Spector's history of violence against women was like a game of Russian roulette that ended with the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his hilltop mansion. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urged jurors Monday in the music producer's retrial to find Spector guilty of second-degree murder, not the lesser possibility of involuntary manslaughter. His first jury deadlocked 10-2 for conviction. She referred in her closing argument to Spector as becoming “a demonic maniac” and “a very dangerous man” around women. “This case is about a man who has had a history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women,” she said. “Five women got the empty chamber. Lana got the sixth bullet.” A ruling by Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler which permitted testimony by five women in Spector's past was perhaps the most controversial of both trials. All the incidents occurred between 1975 and 1995 but none resulted in guns being fired. Attorney Doron Weinberg was to present the defense argument Tuesday. The original case prosecutor, Alan Jackson, was to argue as well before the case goes to the jury Wednesday. Weinberg is expected to say that the 40-year-old Clarkson, a down-on-her-luck actress in despair about her career, put the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger six years ago. Spector, 69, the legendary producer known for his “Wall of Sound” recording technique and his eccentric personality, sat staring straight ahead as the prosecutor spoke.
