The KTLA legal expert disagrees, because it’s such a high-profile case.
But in the absence of a manslaughter option, the jury, which is split 7-5 (we don’t know which way), probably won’t be able to reach agreement on whether Spector committed second-degree murder, and Fidler will have to declare a mistrial. I don’t believe the prosecution will want to re-try this.
Maybe the jury would have rejected this improbable-sounding scenario. For Spector to have committed involuntary manslaughter, Lana Clarkson would have to have put the gun barrel into her mouth while Phil Spector’s finger was on the trigger. When we look back on this case, the prosecution’s central blunder will turn out to be its failure to include involuntary manslaughter among its charges against Spector. That’s almost certainly the right call from a legal point of view, but the practical result will likely be to set Spector free.
