Spector’s lawyers encounter juror bias

Lawyers defending Phil Spector faced an obvious hurdle Tuesday in the music producer’s murder trial: prospective jurors who think, based on news reports, that Spector killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

“Honestly, I think he did it,” said a juror who said she was an aspiring actress. The juror also made a point repeated by others in the jury pool: Celebrities, she said, often “just act inappropriately.”

Another woman had written in the questionnaire completed by the nearly 200 potential jurors: “In my opinion, Phillip Spector is at fault for her death.”

Asked by Spector attorney Roger Rosen what she meant, the woman said, “If she hadn’t gone there she would be alive.”

Spector is charged with murder in the death of Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in February 2003. Clarkson was found dead in a chair in the foyer. She was shot through the mouth. Prosecutors contend Spector shot her when she tried to leave.

They had met earlier that night at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, where Clarkson worked as a hostess.

The defense contends that Clarkson shot herself, either by accident or committing suicide.

Memories of the O.J. Simpson case emerged in this trial. Two women said they believed that Simpson murdered his wife, but prosecutors in the case did a poor job. Rosen asked one of the women if she likened Spector to Simpson. “Yeah, I guess that’s right,” she replied.

Two other women said they would have trouble understanding scientific evidence because they were not fluent in English.

The defense is expected to call well-known forensics experts to argue that Spector could not have killed Clarkson because he was not near her when she was shot.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson asked jurors if they had heard of Henry Lee, a well-known criminalist retained by the defense. Six of the 18 people seated in the jury box said they were familiar with Lee, who is best known for his testimony in the O.J. Simpson trial.

“I think these experts are pretty cool,” one juror said.

Some jurors said they might hold Spector responsible for Clarkson’s death, whether or not he shot her, just because she was in his house. “Someone who has weapons in the house must make sure they are not accessible, especially to guests,” one man said.

One juror identified herself as a prosecutor in the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. She said she would not favor the prosecution if she were picked for the jury.

Jackson asked panelists if they understood the notion of “implied malice.” Implied malice, he explained, means a person may not have intended to kill someone, but they did intend to commit an act inherently dangerous to human life.

No jurors were eliminated from the pool Tuesday. Lawyers are expected to begin removing jurors today. Selecting the 12-member panel is expected to take the rest of the week.

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peter.hong@latimes.com