Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Court Stories You Haven't Heard from the Phil Spector Trial

The Latest on the Home Front. Hello everyone. I know y'all have been waiting for a story, but I've been busy with real life and trying to catch up on the new projects that have cropped up around our house. The white monstrosity is still in the driveway up on jacks. There was a bit of an emergency over a week ago when Mr. Sprocket realized that our tiny car jack stands were about to crumble under the crushing weight of the delivery truck and he had to make an emergency purchase for a powerful lift jack and stands that could handle the load. With that potential disaster in the making thwarted, the most pressing issue we have been dealing with is the hole in the laundry area of our kitchen floor which became "The Great Escape" attempt for two of our kitties. For several days the hole was covered by one of my thick, flexible, fabric cutting grids until we decided how we were going to tackle this space, rebuild it and moisture proof it for the washer and dryer. After a few days of my grid being on the floor I told Mr. Sprocket to find something in the garage to cover the hole with so I could clean off my grid for fabric. I take my grid up off the floor and put it back with my other sewing materials and Mr. Sprocket goes to the garage to get some sheet metal. Mr. Sprocket finds something to cover the hole and we sit down to watch a bit of television. About ten minutes later I hear a wailing meow and I'm asking Mr. Sprocket, "Where are the kitties?" Wouldn't you know, the minute I turned my back and put that grid away, Sprocket kitty and Scout kitty became partners in crime and went exploring under the house. A few minutes after I started calling for Sprocket kitty, he came up out of the hole filthy dirty; there wasn't one white spot left on his face, neck or paws. He got locked in the treatment room for the time being until we could get Scout out, who was a bit harder to coax back inside. I'm stretched out half under the house in the bathroom with a flashlight where we have an access to the elevated crawl space. Mr. Sprocket is in the kitchen and we are both trying to call Scout to us. We can hear his mournful meow while he's desperately trying to find a way out from under the house to freedom. After a time of calling him and hearing him wail, I had the idea for Mr. Sprocket to open the crawl space access door off the driveway. Maybe he would come out that way. Once that access was opened, it must have scared Scout to the point that he shot up out of the hole in the kitchen floor and I immediately covered the access with the sheet metal. We then spent the next several hours giving them the much dreaded "bath" and drying them off with a blow dryer. Scout and Sprocket kitties are now buddies in crime from their great adventure.
Jumpy & Scout and Sprocket hanging out and watching their very own "birdie TV." It's going slowly but we are making progress on the kitchen floor and patch repairing some old damage to the wall behind the washer area. Back Stories from Courtroom 106. Back in January of this year, Dr Herold took the stand to testify in the retrial. During the first trial, I got to experience part of her testimony but not all of it. Ever since all the T&T contributors first saw Dr. Herold testify, everyone has been a fan. I distinctly remember some of her classic lines of testimony on the stand during the first trial: "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic! [...] It is what it is." (These were some of the statements that many people from the Internet crime-forum community discussed.) And, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." This last statement I learned later, was actually a quote from a forensic book written by none other than Paul Kish, one of the defense experts hired by Phil Spector who did not testify in either of his two trials. I paid rapt attention when Dr. Herold testified. I wanted to completely understand what she was presenting to the jury. She had so many years of experience and her demeanor on the stand was quite likable and engaging. Another reason I liked Dr. Herold was because I could relate to her from an age and physical stand point. We're close in age, both have long dark hair with a bit of gray and similar body shapes. But that's where the similarity ends. Whereas I've worked as a bank auditor, bodyworker, seamstress and now part-time blogger, Dr. Herold is a kick-ass forensic scientist and criminalist. Here are some of my notes of when she was presenting her Curriculum Vitae on the stand for the second time. Dr. Herold received her Ph.D., even before Master's programs were initiated. When she was working on her Ph. D., in Biological Sciences, she taught histology to pre-med and med students in exchange for her tuition. A senior criminalist with the LA Co. Sheriff's Crime Lab, she started her career working with the LA Co. Coroner's office, where she was first exposed to forensic science. She told the jury she used "...every single class she's taken in her work." With all her knowledge and experience, you have to wonder why she hasn't left her County job to set up her own shop, publish a few books and make ten times as much as she currently earns, working as a defense expert witness. When I heard Dr. Herold testify, I saw her as a positive role model for women interested in the sciences. January 13th, 2009 was Dr. Herold's second day on the stand in the retrial. It's the afternoon session and she has testified about her reconstruction of the crime scene as well as the blood and mottling she observed on the various surfaces of the gun. The afternoon recess was called and I was virtually the only person left in the gallery. Dr. Herold stayed on the stand during the break. Spector, Rachelle, Donte and the entire defense team had left the courtroom. Truc Do was still inside 106 and I tried to get Truc's attention to ask her a question. Truc answered me by asking me a question that totally took me by surprise. "She wants to know how Scout kitty is doing," Truc said. For a moment I was at a loss for words. Through Truc, Dr. Herold was asking me about my kitty who had to undergo emergency surgery for an infected bite wound. The only way she could have known that was by reading T&T. For the next several minutes I talked about Scout and from the witness box, Dr. Herold talked about her wild kitties that she has rescued that did not adapt well to becoming inside kitties. As soon as I got home that night before I even starting working on my trial notes for the day, I excitedly wrote to the entire T&T gang what happened in the afternoon session; that Dr. Herold reads the blog and she has kitties! Most of the T&T group have kitties that we love dearly. ritanita wrote back, "I love Dr. Herold. She's so down-to-earth and to-the-point. 'It is what it is.'" Kitty Malone said, "Awe...I knew there was many reasons we liked her!" CaliGirl9 said, "I **loved** Dr. Herold the first time around and now knowing she loves kitties, I love her more! What a pro and a good person!" The following day, court ended a bit early at 3:30 pm. Sherri had stayed later than she usually did and offered to give me a ride home. Sherri would park in the far back of the parking lot behind the Criminal Court Building. I thought Spector and his entourage were in front of us and had already left the building. However, as I exited I saw that the "I (heart) Phil-mobile" was still in it's reserved spot at the end of the ramp. As we head towards the ramp, I turn to Sherri to tell her I thought they were in front of us. I thought they had gotten on another elevator, ahead of us. She tells me, "No, they are behind us." Crap. Ever since my extensively photo-shopped image appeared on Rachelle Short's web page, I made a point to exit the courtroom last. I also made a point of staying inside the courtroom during the breaks. If I wanted to get any snacks, Linda from San Diego or Sherri would go to the vending machine for me. There were a few times when I did leave the courtroom during the breaks, but if Rachelle was in the hallway with her husband and/or his groupies, she would consistently make insinuating comments as I walked by. Rachelle made sure I knew I was the object of her comments because she would increase the volume in her voice to just below a screech. Staying inside the courtroom during breaks was just an easy way to avoid a potential confrontation and the overall negativity of her presence. So Sherri and I are walking down the handicap ramp to the parking lot and Spector and his group are a few yards behind us. As we are walking down the ramp Sherri turned around to look at Rachelle. She saw that Rachelle had whipped out her camera in her purse and was taking pictures of us. She must have over heard Sherri say, "I knew that camera would come out," because right after that, Sherri told me she saw that Rachelle had gestured with her middle finger, flipping her off, and kept taking photos with this childlike, gleeful expression on her face. I kept wondering at the time, is this all just a spiteful game to her? Does she not get it that her husband is on trial for murder? When we got on the street, their car was right in front of us on Broadway. I would not be surprised if she took photos of us through the back window of the "I (Heart) Phil-mobile." After that, I never made that mistake again. I always made sure I was the last person out of 106 to get on an elevator. A week later on January 20th, court was in session only for the afternoon. Dr. Herold is still on the witness stand and we happened to be in the hallway together waiting to get inside 106. It was right as I was about to enter the first set of courtroom doors, that Dr. Herold speaks to me. She hands me a piece stationary paper with a phone number on it. She first tells me that I can't mention this until the case is over. She then says she would like to invite me to take a tour of the Sheriff's crime lab and I could bring Mr. Sprocket along if I wished. She says that they often do that for other writers. I'm to give her a call when the case is over. I'm blown away and very excited at the same time. It's at this point, all I want is for the case to be over so I can go to the crime lab. It's all I can think about. Hurry up and finish so I can go to the crime lab! I had taped the small piece of paper Dr. Herold gave me with her number on it to my printer. I saw it everytime I sat at my computer. I would see that paper and think about the tour. When I got home the evening of the verdict, the first thing I did was call Dr. Herold and leave a message about scheduling the tour. She called back on my cell a few hours later while we were shopping for a new hard drive in Fry's. One of the first things she tells me is to me is to call her Lynne; that no one addresses her as "Dr. Herold." I told her that would be hard for me but I would try. I also told her I had jury duty on April 27th. If I could get through that in a couple days then I would be free to come whatever day would work for her schedule. She tells me there were a few people at the lab who wanted to meet me, so she would need to find a day that would work for everyone. She checked in with me a week later and we discussed a possible visit date: April 30th. I told her that would all depend on what happened with my jury service. We kept that date as a tentative date unless I got seated on a jury. Dr. Herold thought it would be a good experience for me if it did happen. When Monday, April 27th, came around, I did not have to report to the Metropolitan Courthouse, but the following day I did. I was hoping I would get through the entire day without being sent to a courtroom; then I would be home free. In the afternoon of the first day, I was sent to a courtroom along with 34 other individuals. I was juror #17, which meant I was one of the first 24 individuals to be questioned by the judge, prosecutor and defense. I will be writing a separate entry on my experiences at the Metropolitan courthouse but I wanted to share with you a "small world" coincidence. During questioning, I told the court that I was a blogger who attended three high profile trials and wrote about them as well as attended a few days of some other celebrity trials (Pellicano, Anand Jon, Miura). In the hallway on the afternoon of the second day, I was talking with the juror seated to my left, #16 about my experiences covering Spector. I told her that I got to meet Beth Karas and Dominick Dunne. She asked me if I had met any of the jurors. I replied, yes, that I had met Juror #9, Ricardo and how much I enjoyed him as a person. She then revealed that Ricardo was a long-time personal friend of hers. We both couldn't believe it. Small world. As soon as I was excused from service by the defense attorney, I rushed home so I could call Dr. Herold and tell her Mr. Sprocket and I could come the next day for a tour of the crime lab.
Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, at Cal State LA
The Crime Lab Touring the crime lab was a very exciting experience for both of us. Mr. Sprocket and I were at the crime lab a whopping ten and a half hours, where I took an entire notebook full of notes (so you know I will have a very detailed entry coming). And, I took quite a few photos. We got to tour every department, from evidence control, accessioning and storage, DNA labs, photography and fingerprint labs to the trace evidence lab, where Dr. Herold's department of seven employees perform their examinations. We even got to see the maintenance room and stand on the roof of the building. We got an extended, detailed personal tour of the firearms examination rooms, firing range and firing tanks as well as the weapons storage facilities by two criminalists who testified in the Spector trial: Dale Falicon and Bob Kyle. We also got to meet the senior criminalist who reviewed all of Dr. Herold's work on the Spector case, Steve Schliebe. While we were hanging out at Dr. Herold's desk, we got to look at some of the enlarged photographs presented at Spector's trial, as well as some of the notes prepared by defense expert Dr. Henry Lee. While looking at the enlarged photographs of the murder weapon, I pulled out a close up of the right side of the weapon and asked Mr. Sprocket to look at the center of the frame very closely. I asked him what did he see on the surface of the firearm. He replied, "A fabric pattern." You have to wonder about the competency (and honesty) of these forensic experts that Spector's defense team hired, who were unable to testify on the stand that they saw a fabric pattern on the weapon that my husband was able to discern after less than 10 seconds. Before I forget, I'd like to thank all the staff at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. Every single person we got the opportunity to meet was very accommodating and patiently took the time to answer all our questions in every department, which is why the tour took so long. It will take me several days to get my entry up on the tour of the crime lab, and afterwords, my jury service entry so please keep checking back.

36 comments:

ritanita said...

Well, in spite of the dirt and gunk from under the house and the nasty baths, at least Scout and Sprocket found a way to bond! They'll sit around, meowing about their great adventure.

I am seldom envious of others, but I DO envy you your opportunity to visit the crime lab!

I will patiently wait to hear everything about your and Mr. Sprocket's adventure.

Noneofyerbeeswax said...

Oh Sprocket! That's soooo cool. Dr. Herold seems like a real human being, it's nice to know that.

I can't wait to read more.

Take care

Julie

Anonymous said...

How nice that they were so accomodating on that visit to the lab. Every once in a while we get to take a 'sneak peak' at something that not everyone gets to see.

I never understood Rachelle acting like a tourist at a murder trial. Hard for me to believe she got into college (Lenior Rhyne, about 90 minutes west of me), tho' she did not last long there. She is something else, no doubt about it. Now what will she do with all those pics she took, publish a book?

Speaking of books, a third one on Spector is entitled "Out of his head", I saw the following article on it, its being updated (naturally)but first editions are for sale on Amazon:
guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/14/richard-williams-on-phil-spector

By the way, I never saw such god-awful capped teeth on anyone as are on PS as seen on the cover of this book. Scary.
Wes J.

Anonymous said...

Any time you have an open door, or any kind of opening, that you don't want a cat to go through, the cat will find it. He will then zip through. If you want a cat to go outside through a door, he will stop at the door and hesitate. After a long pause, he will go through.

When you call a cat, he will be invisible. After a while you are tired of calling him and don't care whether he shows up. Then you look down and he's rubbing against you. We have two black cats who act like this.

David From TN

Anonymous said...

I'm with Ritanita, I am envious. What a wonderful and unusual experience for you. Mr. Sprocket just might get hooked on trial watching now...a duo!!!
Looking forward to more posts with great anticipation.
Tess

CaliGirl9 said...

I am sure that if I'd "met" Dr. Herold when I was younger, I'd have tried a whole lot harder in my biology classes!

Then again I don't think she's that much older than I am ... but it is so obvious she loves what she does and that can only serve as a message to young women that it's okay to be smart in biology and science, and work your way to a job that makes such a difference in so many lives!

She's still my hero!

CaliGirl9 said...

P.S. Silly cats! I just had to chase my Cammi cat over the patio wall after she chased a feral cat away (I was trying to feed the poor thing, and Cammi had already had her dinner!)

Cats keep 'ya on your toes 24/7.

Sedonia Sunset said...

Dr. Herold has been my IDOL ever since I saw her at the first Phil Spector trial. She was so knowledgeable, self-assured and focused that she was a joy to watch! She cemented her status as my idol in the way she handled Linda Kenny-Baden. Baden was determined to belittle Dr. Herold (refusing to refer to her as a doctor and ridiculing the title as compared to a MEDICAL doctor, for instance), and to try to get her ruffled at every turn. LKB came off as looking like a desperate harridan, while Dr. Herold came off as eminently logical, calm, collected and unbiased. She refused to expound or speculate on any area other than her own field of expertise and experience with the case and evidence at hand, despite LKB's MANY efforts to get her to do otherwise. It was PRICELESS! Dr. Herold, you ARE my hero and and excellent role model!

Jenifer said...

Sprocket, how exciting that you got such an extensive tour! And it's neat to know that people at the crime lab knew of you and wanted to meet you, too.

I'm not surprised Dr. Herold is a cat person, too. I've taken in a couple semi-feral kitties, too, and they can be challenging to live with. The one I have now is a terrible spook and spends most of her indoor time under the bed.

Anonymous said...

Sprocket

Have you continued monitoring the media for Phil Spector stores? I have not read anything about how he is doing in jail. I have searched, but nothing has popped yet. Are you aware of anything? I hope he is doing crappy!

Ray

Anonymous said...

Re Spector's capped teeth, what do you expect, the man is CHEEEEEP. Probably offered to pay half the bill after the dentist tried for months to collect from him.

Sprocket, glad things are going well on the home front, that washer and dryer will soon be in their happy new home,

Thanks for another interesting report, Christine

Anonymous said...

Dr. Herold comes across as a sweet and genuine person. A neighbor any neighborhood would welcome. She has such passion for her job. It is nice to see that. She reminds me of my mother, God rest her soul

Anonymous said...

I bet the crime lab was not staffed with hot young guys and women in plunging necklines, either! Yeah, I think it might be a little different from all those TV CSIs.

What a great story, Sprocket!

-barskin (I can't seem to post here by that name)

Anonymous said...

When you wrote that you were going to get a tour of the crime facility, I thought you would get a 10 minute lobby tour..!! How neat to be able to do that.

Liz asked you 4/29 if you had intel on 5/29 camera coverage.

Would the court clerk have any info..?? I've written KTLA. CNN, LegalEdge.


bearwds

Sprocket said...

Camera Coverage:Anyone can call the Court's Public Information Office and ask if there will be camera coverage. Just go to the LA Co. Superior Court's Media page to get the phone number:

http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/courtnews/ui/main.aspx

That doesn't necessarily mean there will be live streaming of the entire sentencing. It may be a pool camera and just snippets of the hearing broadcast later.

Anonymous said...

Betsy I forgot to tell you, when I evacuated 10 days after the flood in New Orleans, my cat went to AL and lived in a non-cat-owner home for 6 months. During which, a bath remodel allowed large holes in the floor, thru which Lucifer jumped into---to the crawlspace. But too scared to jump back up! I happened on the scene the next day or so and sat in a lawn chair by the crawl space door, calling and eventually coaxing him out.

Why did so many Orleanians fail to evacuate during Katrina? Because they were tired of false alarms, and had not had a hit since HURRICANE BETSY, 40 YRS PRIOR!

Lucifer--now 18--does something no vet has ever heard of before: he loves to chew on used Q-tips. Imagine the pungent odor of ear wax to a carnivore....yum. And he is smart enough to flip the tip over, savoring both sides. True!

Well its slow on the Spector newsfront so I thought I'd offer this filler, LOL.
Wes J.

CaliGirl9 said...

Anon @ 4:58, I have a pair of 'em who will fish the Q-tips out of the garbage! I have to hide them and treat them like toxic waste! If I don't I find Q-tip remains all over my apartment!

Cats are strange ... fun but strange!

Anonymous said...

My cat found the perfect hiding place when guests came over as he was totally freaked out by strangers. I could never figure out where he was. I finally noticed the glint of his eyes in a bathroom cupboard which didn't latch properly, he was looking out crouching. He must have pulled the door closed as it was only open an inch! Cats are smart. They have a sense of humor. Dogs are also smart, but terribly serious critters.

Anonymous said...

Dr Herold and all from the crime lab who might be reading this -- thank you for your service to victims of crime. Thanks for your long and dedicated hours to simply tell what you see and for putting up with the 'hired experts' so many celebrities use to try and convince juries otherwise. Your honest work paid off in the Spector case and a lovely woman's family finally has their justice.

Anonymous said...

Sprocket, you very much deserved the opportunity to tour the crime lab, you put so much work and time into the Spector (and other!)trials... I can't think of anyone more deserving. What a wonderful thing for you! Congrats on that and on learning that you have fans you didn't know about! :)

Love reading your blog, the way you write makes me feel like we're chatting on the phone. Your insight and detailed descriptions are awesome.

Ellie

Anonymous said...

Dear Fellow Sprocket Fans and you too Sprocket..

I found this hilarious parody/video of Phil Spector, if you haven't seen it, you really should.

Pat in NH

http://www.georgefrangides.com/video-misunderstood.html

Anonymous said...

That George Frangides video was TOO AWESOME! Thanks Pat in NH for this pick me up at Phil's expense.

Sprocket, thanks for sharing some back stories and I am green with envy for you getting to spend such a rich day at the crime labs. I hope you have time to share more with us.

I loved Dr. Herald from the first trial on, and cat people are all drawn to eachother. I spend about approximately 1/2 my food budget on 'Temptations" aka "Kitty Crack Cocaine," by Whiskas.

Finally, just when you think people can't be any more loathsome, to hear some of the reprehensible things that Phil and Chelle did, make me even more delighted when I see Phil's mug shot (the wallpaper on my computer.) Karma and Mrs. Spector is a bitch.

I don't pray that she gets shot in the mouth or anything, but, please merciful and kind God in heaven, let her gain 100 pounds in the next six months.


michele

shari said...

Oh Sprocket, you lucky dog. Your tour by Dr. Herold must have been the very best. I totally agree with the other bloggers about the good doctor. She was amazing, kept her cool, and was so good at what she knows that it became clear on everything she explained. LKB was exceptionally rude to her. Dr. Herold still kept her cool. What a terrific lady. What a gracious thing for her to offer you and Mr. Sprocket the chance to tour the facility. Like I said, "you lucky dog" or maybe I should say cat. Hope you get your floor fixed soon. My kitties like to escape into a return air duct under our floor when I take the vent off to change the filter. The only way I get them back is treats or catnip. Please pass on to Dr. Herold how impressed we all were with her and if anything ever happened to any of my family, I would hope that someone as competent and detailed would testify in court. You can tell that she had the utmost integrity as well as knowledge and wouldn't let anyone rattle her. BRAVO Dr. Herold!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sprocket,
I saw on Michelle Blaine's blog that there is a remarkable impersonater of Phil Spector. It's George Frangides (of My Name Is Earl) and I emailed him that the resemblance and attitude is very much like PS. He was kind and wrote to thank me for my comments and said he would like to do further work showcasing his talent, such as a movie on PS's life. You should see this video. It's set a rap beat and it's quite uncanny. I really had to look twice to be sure it wasn't PS.
Wow.

Anonymous said...

Michele, your 100 pound comment was perfect! I laughed out loud at my desk when I read that!

Sprocket said...

I'm sorry that my Crime Lab story is delayed. We've been working on the kitchen floor and had to take up another big section. It's now looking like the entire floor will have to come up. My contractor friend who helped us cut the hole in the roof for the HVAC package unit is coming over on Monday to give us some advice and hopefully we can hire him to help us finish the job right.

So Mr. Sprocket has a reprieve from the kitchen floor (our refrigerator is currently in the dining room) and will get to work on his truck all weekend.

That means in-between fetching him tools or holding this or holding that while he tries to get the rear end together, I should be able to work on the first installment of the crime lab story this weekend.

nd said...

Hi Sprocket! – thank you for the wonderful updates, and how exciting that you & the awesome Dr. Herold got together! I remember during the first trial I was enthralled with Dr. H. & her down to earth testimony about the amazing work she did to help solve this case. And when I read your fabulous depiction of the retrial I could completely envision her on the stand again, YOU are amazing too! I hope you realize what a valuable role you played in this trial, keeping the truth at center stage for Lana & all of us. Because of you, Lana’s killer couldn’t hide or misrepresent his murder trial to the public… despite having Linda Deutsch do her best to minimize his crime. I am just so upset at the outrageous harassment you were subjected to by the killer & his wretched contract-bride. What asses, but at least they can’t do it again. Ha ha ha. Oh, and, ha ha ha ha. Sorry, I’m still giddy about the verdict!

And OMG those bad kitties, lol! How typical, leave a little space open for two seconds and zoom, they’re gone down the rabbit hole. But glad they’re safe & survived their baths, they were probably happy they didn’t have to lick off all that muck. We have 4of our own live-in ‘investigators’ and they get into absolutely everything 24/7!

Sandy said...

Sprocket,

Have u heard anything about James Pex. I wonder if he will be facing perjury charges?

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about Pex today too. He really should be charged, it will put at least one of these pay-to-say expert witnesses out of commission. No doubt they are like a plague over the system of justice in this country today.

Anonymous said...

Re James Pex, I was thinking about Dr. Baden and all the others from the first trial. They just seem to go on making a bundle twisting the truth. It would be good to see him have to face some consequence for laughing in the face of the law.

Anonymous said...

interested:
have you decided if you are going to cover Anna Nicole/Stern&Drs. case now that a date has been set to start ?

Anonymous said...

Sprocket, I hope you get your personal life (appliances, truck, kitties etc) taken care of so you have the time and want to do some more reporting somewhere. It's a desert now! I only hit T&T about once every 5 days. All the best to you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sprocket,Any further updates re: the Spector trial? Will you make an appearance on the 29th when he gets sentenced? How's he making out in jail? Any word?

Sprocket said...

Update:I have been very busy with real life and have had virtually zero time to find a trial to cover. Most pressing is trying to refocus Mr. Sprocket on the house ~ and finding employment ~ verses the "Truck." It's been a challenge. And I have some sewing orders I've been working on.

I plan on trying to get into the sentencing but I have no guarantee that I will get a seat this time. I understand that there are many people from the public that plan on attending. It's guaranteed that there will be quite a few people from the press showing up, too who will get seated first, as well as the family of both parties. I don't think there will be many public seats available. I think that it's going to be a roll of the dice if I get in or not, and try to cover it in real time.

The only news that I have on Spector is what was published in RADAR ONLINE.COM.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/05/oy-vey-phil-spector-bald-truth

Spector has found "religion" and is now an Orthodox Jew. He discovered that right after his repeated requests to the sheriff's to be able to wear some type of hat were denied and he read a copy of the inmate's handbook.

As an Orthodox Jew, he is now allowed to wear a yarmulke. Radar Online reports the one Spector is sporting is the size of a Mexican Sombrero.

Remember, Spector was in a serious auto accident back in 1974 that required plastic surgery. I suspect that Spector has several scars on his scalp.

I suspect that when Spector is sentenced he will be sporting a wig again (and a nice suit). He is allowed to be dressed in anything he wants, to appear in court. Just because he is convicted doesn't mean he is NOT allowed to wear a suit in front of the judge, and/or have something covering his speculatedly completely bald head.

Many men feel inferior and embarrassed without hair. Maybe it has something to do with their perception of lost youth and vigor. From Mick Brown's book, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound many people reported that Spector was obsessed with his appearance.

I've not heard anything about James Pex, but then again, I haven't asked. During the trial, I did ask Alan Jackson if the DA's office would pursue perjury charges. He stated that if the DA's office did, it would be a department totally removed from his and he (and anyone who worked on the case) would NOT be involved in any part of the process.

I don't plan on covering the Anna Nicole Smith debacle. That will be a media circus nightmare and after traveling downtown, there would be no guarantee each day that I would get a seat.

There is a trial in the Van Nuys Courthouse that I have my eye on but it probably won't get off the ground for another year.

I hope to attend most of the Cameron Brown trial, and a friend is working on getting me introduced to the Judge and his staff in that case.

Today, there was either a prelim or a status conference in the Adnan Ghalib assault case, (Van Nuys Courthouse) but there have been too many pressing issues at home for me to cover it. Maybe the next one.

Anonymous said...

Sprocket,
Very good to read you again. I can't believe that after all this time, I will be away when the sentencing takes place. I will have to see if I can get someone who has a computer to give me access.
The sentencing itself should not take very long...I can't imagine he would have a whole lot of people begging for lenency.
Thanks for your time and the update.
Tess

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the trial coverage Sprocket. I don't normally follow trials, but this schmuck Spector got to me. He is so self-centered and felt so entitled, I was afraid he was going to get away with murder. I came to depend on reading your blog. I think I went through a little withdrawal when the trial ended, but we can't expect you to continue devoting all your waking hours to Phil Spector. Good luck with your real life issues.

Ray