LATEST: The murder retrial of PHIL SPECTOR is to go ahead after the revered
music producer lost a bid to halt proceedings.
 
The star stands accused of shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra,
California mansion in 2003. He maintains she committed suicide, and his trial
last year (07) ended with a hung jury.
 
The retrial was scheduled to be held at a Los Angeles court in October (08),
but Spector's legal team attempted to put a stop to the case so they could
appeal on grounds of double jeopardy.
 
Spector's attorneys claim Judge Larry Paul Fidler, who oversaw the first
trial, refused to allow his jury to consider a charge of involuntary
manslaughter as it struggled to make a decision. They want to use this ruling
in their argument, claiming the decision effectively acquitted Spector on the
lesser charges, and under the law of double jeopardy he cannot face the same
counts again.
 
But California appeals court officials rejected the motion on Friday
(15Aug08) and gave the retrial the go ahead.
 
The court panelists also threw out a request by the defence to ban the
prosecution from seeking to convict Spector on lesser offences.