The Phil Spector Trial Through The Eyes And Ears Of Linda Deutsch

In Los Angeles there is the undisputed Queen of court journalism. She is the above all, copiously objective and avoids commentary on the cases she reports. She’s sharp as a tack and fair until it hurts.

I was blessed to be able to chat with this master wordsmith over a short lunch during the Robert Blake murder trial and learned a bit about Ms. Deutsch. I already knew she has a warehouse full of awards for her writings over the years.

Ms. Deutsch told me about her policy never to take sides or dare predict the too often unpredictable verdicts of the trials she’s assigned to cover. When you inquire about a story this gal is covering you never have to say, “Just the facts ma’am.”

Columnists and commentators are the ones that give their opinions to the masses. Reporters on the other hand are given the task to simply report the naked truth. Few reporters can mask their personal opinions and tell it like it is as Linda Deutsch does so well.

Here is a shot biography of Linda Deutsch:
Ms. Deutsch has been a special correspondent for the Associated Press in Los Angeles, California since 1967. She has been a journalist for 40 years reporting on many high profile trials including the criminal and civil trial of O.J. Simpson, for which she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and awarded the Oliver Gramling award by the Associated Press. Ms. Deutsch covered the trials of Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood, Rodney King, the Menendez brothers, and of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski. She has also covered Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, the assassination attempts on President Gerald Ford, and the evacuation of Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. She received her bachelor’s degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey. Ms. Deutsch has received many awards including the Missouri School of Journalism’s Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists’ First Amendment Award.

For the past four years Linda Deutsch has doggedly covered the Phil Spector case. She has reported on the good, bad and the ugly of this sordid tale. I think this time Ms. Deutsch’s brutal honesty has tipped her hand when She called the case an “intriguing murder mystery”. That tells me above all else, that the state was unable to prove their case

Here is Linda Deutsch’s wrap story on the end of the evidentiary portion of the Phil Spector murder trial.

Phil Spector And Joan Baez Rocked!

I’ve written many articles about the tragic event at Phil Spectors’s home because I hate the merit less prosecution along with the incredibly slanted and defective rulings by Judge Larry Paul Fidler. Anymore American court trials are more about Las Vegas odds than justice. The jury will soon be charged with guessing what happened to Lana Clarkson. God help us all if when American juries are allowed to guess their way to murder convictions.

I ran into this video on YouTube that personifies just who Phil Spector really is. He’s a musical genius that has enriched our lives with so much great music. From my early favorite, Spanish Harlem, sung first by Ben E. King to that wildly popular song, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling. Spector music and its huge influence is thankfully everywhere today.

Sit back now and watch Phil Spector direct the music and play the piano while Joan Baez delivers one incredibly soulful rendition of Spector’s work.

Phil Spector’s Limo Driver Is The Prosecution’s Star Puppet.

I’ve already shown earlier where Adriano DeSousa lied about seeing a gun in Phil Spector’s hand. Was it really a lie or just a mistaken impression at the scene of a horrific tragedy?

We all now know that Mr. DeSousa was working here on an expired visa and breaking the law. DeSousa’s deportation is in the hands of prosecutor Alan Jackson and Pat Dixon who have the unique power to gain cooperation from ICE to provide a coveted Green Card in exchange for needed testimony.

DeSousa desperately needed Jackson and Dixon far more than he ever needed Phil Spector. Imagine just how fast DeSousa would have been deported had he not twisted the facts in a way that was useful to the prosecution theory?

I have a simple explanation of the real exchange between Spector and DeSousa on that horrible February morning in 2003. Lana Clarkson killed herself either on purpose or by accident. There is no dispute that Clarkson was both drunk and under the influence of dangerous drugs. Further I believe Clarkson found the gun while rumaging through Spector's property and assumed it was unloaded.

Phil Spector in an understandable panic frantically tried to help Clarkson by cleaning off her wound and trying to stop bleeding. Spector ran out side to summon help from Mr. DeSousa. Phil Spector is no great orator. His voice is raspy and soft and has always been that way. DeSousa spoke somewhat limited English and probably did not quite hear or really understand what Spector told him. The loud water fountain also plays into this mix.

Phil Spector wrongfully assumed that Mr. DeSousa understood what he was told and returned inside his home. Spector apparently felt comfortable that DeSousa called for police and perhaps an ambulance. Spector waited for the police and when they arrived admitted them into his home but was treated not as a witness but as a suspect.

The shock of the entire event took its toll on Spector and he simply failed to move as quickly as police wanted. The result was that Phil Spector was shot with a police Taser Gun. I can’t imagine Spector being coherent after that morning’s events.

The cops now had a civil liability problem. If Phil Spector is not convicted of a crime he will be able to sue the police for the wrongful Tasering. Was that the motivation to make a case for Murder against Phil Spector?

Despite the fact that Adriano DeSousa’s testimony is full of holes it was bought and paid for by prosecutors. That, as the prosecutors manipulated DeSousa’s future.

During the trial the prosecutors vilified Phil Spector for washing his hands. Blood has been recognized as a biohazard for decades now. We all must avoid getting blood on our skin and wash it away should that happen. Washing blood away from your own skin is not evidence tampering, its simple survival!

It really all boils down to who held and fired the gun killing Lana Clarkson? The DNA evidence had no reason to exclude Phil Spector as the limo driver had to say what prosecutors wanted to hear.

Read all my articles on Phil Spector right here.

Terrorism, Turbans, Sikhs And The TSA

Here is my long time close friend, Raj Singh inside the home of Silver Screen terrorist fighter Steven Sagal.

Yes I hate the TSA and the bureaucrats that spawned their invasive and insulting style of pseudo-security. Unlike the TSA model, real security is not measured in inconvenience, aggravation or excessive cost in tax money and freedom.

Airline security in a post 9-11 world should begin with denying access to our airplanes ay anyone carrying a passport from an unfriendly country. The TSA, No Fly List is nothing but a cruel joke.

It’s taken years just to allow a few of our commercial pilots to carry firearms to protect their cockpits because of ignorant FAA and TSA bureaucrats. That’s too little help and way too late. Had the pilots of the 9-11 planes been armed that horrible day would have gone on barely noticed.

Of course ending the ability of trained and certified off duty police officers to fly while armed prevented the two now dead officers from stopping two of the 9-11 hijackings. What were these fools running the FAA thinking when they disarmed the cops on airplanes?

TSA Ignorance Or Bigotry?

There is an East Indian religion unlike many religions that accepts all faiths and promotes the love thy neighbor approach to life. It’s not a Christian religion but it embraces the Christian ideal of living life. That is the 600 year-old Sikh religion.

Sikhs are kind, helpful and trustworthy. Sikhs have repetedly been the murder targets of fundamentalist Muslims and have suffered massacres of their women and children over the centuries.

Sikhs have been chosen to be soldiers and defend the larger civilized countries of the world and they have done so with distinction.

Yes I have some long-time and very close Sikh friends. I have been their guest in India and have made trips to the center of their faith, The Golden Temple. When you arrive at the Golden temple you stand in line with members of every faith on earth as they pass through this sacred shrine. Unlike some religions nobody makes an overt effort at converting people to the Sikh religion. No matter who you are or where you come from the Sikhs will make sure you have food and even a place to rest from your journey.

In the theater of international terrorism Sikhs have always been on the side of the good guys.

For Sikh males the turban is an important religious vestment. They also must not shave or cut their hair. Other items worn by Sikh include a simple base-metal bracelet and a short sword. In America the Sikhs have passed on carrying the sword to conform to various federal, local and state laws.

For Sikhs the turban must be worn at all times in public and is not to be molested or insulted. Our TSA bureaucrats have now crossed the line demanding that the turbans be removed for inspection. Before they were satisfied with searching the turbans with metal detectors.

Of course there is not one case anywhere in the entire world where any Sikh has hidden contraband or a bomb in his turban. This is not an issue of profiling but one of silliness and insult and must stop now.

When do we draw the line in the sand for government to stop victimizing its own citizens? Yes there are many thousands of Americans that are Sikh and must be protected from unreasonable searches under our Constitution.

Foot-Tapping Gay Sex Code?

Okay, we all know that Gay men hit on each other in public restrooms. Most of us go in when we must and get the Hell out quick so we can avoid the Gay boys. I avoid any restroom that seems to be inhabited by loitering types.

The Minneapolis Airport seems to be a hotspot of sorts for men looking for sex with other men. Remind me next time I fly to use the lavatory on the plane instead. I find this whole subject revolting and have no problem with police arresting trespassers, loiterers, or people engaged in public bathroom sexual activity.

The Gay Foot Tapping Code is another matter. As long as they don’t tap my feet or arrest me for tapping my foot to some piped in music I don’t see the problem. To arrest someone for sending a coded foot tapping message seems to be a long reach even for the long arm of the law. To make a lifetime sex criminal out of a restroom foot tapper seems extreme. Imagine what the sufferer’s of that dreaded disease, Restless Leg Syndrome must be going through?

I don’t know what codes Idaho Senator Larry Craig was sending at the time of his arrest. As long as the code was not giving away our secrets to an enemy country I just don’t see what’s the big deal.

I would be just as annoyed to hear that Senator Barney Frank was nabbed for foot tapping. We all know that Gay politician must have been tapping his feet for very many decades.

Can’t we do something about the people that hijack airplanes or pilfer airport luggage instead of serial foot tappers? To reply to me simply send me an e-mail, I’m just not into the foot tapper’s code.

An Update! Women do this do! See an actual arrest caught on tape!

Phil Spector and Court TV

I remember when I thought the concept of Court TV was laid out as a place to watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of high profile trials. That sounded so simple and so sincere that it had to be a good idea. During court breaks there were correspondents that took the neutral approach and reported on what happened but later the anchorharpies arrived on the scene led by Nancy Grace.

The objectivity ended and the prosecution was aided on every trial by the anchorharpies misstating the testimony to the viewers and of course those members of various juries that were violating rules about watching news coverage of the trials they are supposed to be serving. The actual courtroom coverage began to shrink in favor of a pro-prosecution and pro-victim’s rights infotainment platform.

KTLA-TV has real gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Phil Spector Trial. The bad part of the KTLA is during the breaks when Marta Waller rambles on with a pro-prosecution slant while insisting she is somehow neutral. Since they don't trade real trial coverage to hear Marta's opinions KTLA-Tv's web site is a far better place to see that trial. Perhaps when all the evidence is in Ms. Waller will learn a little from Judge Fidler's bias and Alan Jackson's win at any cost methods.

The Internet brought us forums for Court TV and other media outlets inviting the general public to comment on the trials. Even before the opening statements are made the good people on these forums have taken the side of the prosecution. They are the modern day lynch mobs.

These trial junkies cry for the so-called victims and demand maximum punishment for every defendant even before the first witness is sworn. Should posters dare offer an alternative view other than guilt, the resident posters demand that the poster be banned as some kind of a disrespectful victim hater. These trial wathers have the view that if any defendant who is acquitted is the result of a stupid jury.

My blog has been ravaged by at least two such forums, Court TV and KTLA-TV over my coverage and commentary of the Phil Spector Murder trial. My name has been taken in vain and they’ve called me everything but a human. I guess being singled out by these lynch mobs as a venom target is not such a bad thing.

Many of my readers notice that I only cover cases where I see injustice. Most of the high profile trials seem to be on the square and don’t need my attention. For the people on these trial watching forums, they need to live in a place like China where people are tried and executed with lightening speed often for far lesser crimes than murder.

A Compromise Verdict For Phil Spector?

What is a compromise verdict you ask? That’s a way for a jury to give the prosecutor and victim or their family something when the murder case fails. Some jurors believe that the defendant will somehow avoid jail if they can return a guilty verdict on a lesser offense, even though this is behavior is jury misconduct it happens all the time.

Prosecutor’s love to submit lesser included charges like Manslaughter or Involuntary Manslaughter to avoid losing the entire case. Prosecutors too often try this in order to win a lesser conviction as a consolation prize for their efforts through an illegal compromise verdict!

Because of their ignorance about mandatory prison sentences juries are fooled into thinking such a verdict will end in something like probation.

Prosecutors charged Murder and they should be forced to prove Murder. If they went after Spector on a lesser charge that would be quite different but that’s just not the case.

An Update! Judge Fidler ruled this morning that there will be no charge considered other than Second Degree Murder.

Read all my articles on Phil Spector right here.

Phil Spector’s New Lead Lawyer

Just who is that man with the white beard now sitting at the defense table in the Phil Spector murder trial? He’s the new captain of the ship. Dennis Riordan is a renowned San Francisco criminal appellate lawyer.

Why an appellate lawyer you ask? These guys are experts in dealing with the errors of trial judges in crucial rulings that are unfair to defendants. If a defendant fails to raise an issue of a bad ruling at trial that matter can’t be later brought to the appellate level for review.

There has been an excess of questionable or close to questionable rulings made by Spector’s trial judge, Larry Paul Fidler that were adverse to fairness. That makes Riordan an excellent choice in the wake of the departure of former lead lawyer Bruce Cutler.

Roger Rosen has been the defacto lead attorney from the point that Cutler's participation was reduced to nothing.

Judge Fidler seems more concerned about his own popularity than giving Spector a fair trial. Fiddler seems to be really committed to become the only L.A. trial judge presiding over a high profile celebrity case that ends with a guilty verdict.

Is Riordan any good? Just ask Marjorie Knoller; she was a defendant in that notorious San Francisco dog-mauling case that resulted in the death of a lesbian. Riordan’s work got Knoller out of an undeserved life sentence.

Riordan did his undergraduate work at Colgate University and obtained his law degree from New York University School of Law. The California State Bar admitted Riordan to the practice of law in 1976.

An update: Because of a hasty press release Mr. Riordan's role was over-stated. He is on board for dealing the complicated jury instructions. I would not expect him to deliver any portion of closing argument.

Read all my articles on Phil Spector right here.

Holy Cow! 90 Guns Per 100 People!

That’s what Reuters news service is saying today. These are just the guns in private hands. If this is really true, according to the gun rights haters we should be awash with blood from millions of dead children. The fact is accidental gun deaths have never been lower since statistics have been kept on gun deaths. Despite the rise in population murders don’t seem to correlate to the amount of guns in private hands.

Read the Reuters article here.

The Unfriendly Skies Need to Change—A Solution

I have lamented my hatred of flying commercial airlines many times. I hate the privacy invasion and trashing of my right to be free from unreasonable searches. Americans have fought and died for the right not to be randomly searched like criminals. I hate the TSA weenies along with the theft from my luggage, delays and misery inflicted at the direction of ignorant government bureaucrats.

Our heavy handed and lawless government has exceeded whatever terrorism threat we have had from the Muslims. The same government lets Muslims travel on passports from countries that are hostile to America. If our government officials really cared about American’s safety they’d keep the unfriendly aliens off of our planes. The ”No Fly Terror Watch List” is yet another unworkable joke.

For the super wealthy, corporate jets is the solution to the TSA abuse, delays and aggravation of air travel. Underground corporate airlines of sorts have been established to move likeminded folks from coast to coast.

It’s time for a commercial airline company to offer travel with their own security policies in place instead of the government’s. They can end the searching and silliness for real security. Of course they’d need a waiver from TSA regulations and their own terminals.

Here are the proposed rules:

1. All pilots must be trained and armed with weapons.
2. All passengers except small children must have a passport from the USA or a friendly country.
3. All Americans traveling with valid concealed weapon permits can carry their firearms on board the aircraft.
4. The carriers shall train their employees to profile passengers for behavior issues.
5. All passengers must agree in writing to the policies or simply make other travel arrangements.
8. The airline will have the right to hire their own trained and qualified air marshals.

This would be the safest airline found anywhere and the most friendly to the civil liberties of Americans.

Here is an article on the subject of corporate travel vs commercial travel.

Here is a video for your enjoyment.

Bruce Cutler’s Waterloo

Legendary rock producer Phil Spector needed a legendary lawyer to represent him on that murder charge. Spector had more than his share of difficulties with the lawyers who have gotten huge retainers for their services. Picking a lawyer to help negotiate the mine field of a criminal courtroom is no exact science. Courtrooms are not the place where the merits of guilt or innocence stand on their own.

Injustice happens in courtrooms every day. There are lies, manipulated and manufactured evidence along with malicious agendas everywhere. If the right result is obtained it’s too often for the wrong reasons. Our system in just not what it’s cracked up to be. It’s more like Las Vegas only with higher stakes.

After the failed representations by Robert Shaprio and Leslie Abramson, Spector settled on New York mob lawyer Bruce Cutler. Cutler has style and the reputation as a heavy hitter. Some will argue that Cutler is more of a showman than a lawyer.

In any event Cutler was castrated early into opening statements of the trial by a prosecution slanted jurist, Judge Larry Paul Fidler. As a result the entire thrust of the opening defense statement became a train wreck. Another lawyer, Linda Kinney Baden caught the ball and ran with it saving the day.

The elegant and effective Roger Rosen was originally picked to second chair this trial for Cutler. After a few humiliating judicial slaps Cutler quickly became no more than a courtroom potted plant. I suspect that there were some really contentious conferences for the defense team to attend. Instead of a lawyer Spector hired a committee and getting a group like that to agree on anything is a challenge. The defense seemed to stumble in direction from the beginning.

This morning Cutler stepped aside and is no longer part of the defense team. Cutler never really seemed to fit into this trial after being so rudely slapped down by judge Fidler in front of the jury. Cutler should have left long ago because as a defrocked show pony he only became a distraction.

Will the jury give Phil Spector the benefit of the reasonable doubt? Has this trial become some kind of a sick exercise like the Romans used to bring to the Coliseum loaded with betting spectators waiting for a thumb up or thumb down?

We’ve seen a lot during this trial of everything but evidence that Phil Spector held the gun or pulled the trigger causing the death of the disturbed Lana Clarkson.

Read all my articles on Phil Spector right here.

Gun Buy Back Follies Chicago Style

Gun-rights haters will do anything at all to remove guns from the hands of their fellow Americans. So far 22,000 gun laws and efforts to bring us 22,000 more have not made these folks happy. Their new focus was to take tax money needed for healthcare and schools and simply give it away.

The Chicago program was quite simple, A, “No questions asked” gun buy back. They advertised to bring in any gun whether real or not and leave with a pre-paid MasterCard worth $100.00.

There are millions of guns out there that did not cost more than $10.00 to manufacture. The cheap firearms filled the market need for affordable self-defense for the desperately frugal or just plain poor folks. Most often these low-end guns get equally low-end care having never been cleaned or oiled. After a few decades of total neglect and abuse these guns are nearly worthless, except in Chicago.

Why keep broken, unserviceable junk lying around when you can turn them into better firearms, accessories and ammunition?

Burglars and thieves need not take stolen firearms to an underworld fence when the City of Chicago is paying top money for hot items. This silly government plan encourages theft, burglary and robbery. Of course someone will get killed along the way during a crime manufactured by this insane government program.

The group called, Illinois carry posted the exploits of a fellow known as “john” to cash in on this mindless Chicago giveaway. This chronicles the experience of a gun profiteer as he exploited the taxpayers of the Windy City. You can read John’s first hand account here.