Spector Judge Refuses To Remove Self From Retrial
LOS ANGELES — The judge who presided over the Phil Spector murder trial has rejected a defense motion to disqualify him from presiding over the retrial because of alleged prejudice against Spector.
According to court papers released Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler signed a declaration saying that he was not biased or prejudiced against any party in the case.
The defense had claimed in a 44-page motion last week that there were numerous alleged acts of bias by the trial judge.
Fidler said that the motion filed by Spector attorney Doron Weinberg was untimely and any protests of his actions should have been filed when they occurred during the trial.
Spector’s first trial ended in a hung jury last September.
Prosecutors plan to try him again for the alleged shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, who died at Spector’s suburban Los Angeles on Feb. 3, 2003.
No date has been set for the retrial.