The jury in record producer Phil Spector’s murder trial completed its fourth day of deliberations Thursday and went home without a verdict.
The case was submitted to the nine-man, three-woman jury on Monday after months of testimony.
Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler announced that attorneys agreed to dismiss one of the remaining five alternate jurors because she had a prepaid vacation scheduled. Another alternate was dismissed earlier in the trial because of a family emergency.
Spector, 67, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson, 40. She was killed by a gunshot fired in her mouth at Spector’s home on Feb. 3, 2003. The defense contends it was self-inflicted.
Spector was a hit-making music producer decades ago, gaining fame for what became known as the “Wall of Sound” recording technique.
Clarkson was a struggling actress who took a job as a VIP hostess at the House of Blues, where she met Spector and went home with him for a drink after work. She gained modest fame in 1985 as the star of Roger Corman’s cult film “Barbarian Queen.”