Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ruled out manslaughter as a possible verdict in the Phil Spector murder trial yesterday. He instructed the jury not to consider any possible lesser decision than second-degree murder. If convicted, Spector will face a sentence of 15 years to life with a possible addition of 10 years for use of a firearm. If acquitted, Spector walks...
Spector's new lawyer Dennis Riordan says "We're asking the court to roll the dice for us." Riordan recently replaced the departing Bruce Cutler who dreamed of the good old days when he would just have to defend John Gotti, a piece of tiramisu compared to the 'Wall of Sound' maestro. It seems that this trial which started in April (2007) has dragged on forever but the end is near...
Alan Jackson is handling the prosecution's closing arguments while Patrick Dixon handles the rebuttal argument for Spector. Linda Kenney Baden will take care of the science portion of the defense's case. The arguments should last about 2 days before the jury gets the judge's instructions, followed by deliberation by the panel. What makes this case seem much longer than the 4 months it took is the actual death of Lana Clarkson which occurred on February 3, 2003. The decision is sure to be followed by some vicious bargaining by the networks for an exclusive interview with Phil Spector and another spectacle. Meanwhile let's not forget that a person lost her life in this case. It's something that got lost somewhere on the way to a verdict...
There are some very interesting items in my Commentary on people you know. It follows the timelines...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1963] Beechwood 4-5789: The hot-line communications line between Washington and Moscow goes into operation. This was the second most important hot-line. The first? The Drake bat-phone...
- 1965] Confirmation day: Thurgood Marshall is confirmed by the Senate as the 1st black Supreme Court Justice...
- 1976] Debut day: Tom Brokaw joins the "Today Show" as news anchor...
- 1984] SOLD to the highest bidder: An auction of Beatles memorabilia in London, including Ringo Starr's snare drum and an unpublished John Lennon book fetches $270,000 (USD)...
- 1988] "D-I-V-O-R-C-E": Julianne Phillips files for divorce from Bruce Springsteen...
- 1989] Queen of Mean guilt: A federal jury in New York finds Leona Helmsley guilty of income tax evasion but acquits her of extortion. The late 'Queen' just left $12 million to her dog (The New York Post yesterday had a picture of Leona holding the pooch with the headline: The Rich Bitch, one of the Post's classic headlines)...
- 1992] An Emmy for the moose: "Northern Exposure" wins an Emmy for "Outstanding Series" (that is was and here's the final scene of this outstanding series): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIVfE0GJgdQ ...
- 1993] Dave TV: David Letterman begins his "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS-TV and here's the opening of that show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA90LEUwTfI ...
- 2005] Katrina II: A day after Hurricane Katrina hit, floodwaters cover 80% of New Orleans, looting spreads and rescuers in helicopters and boats pick up hundreds of stranded people...
- 2006] "Happy Trails": Following a series of strokes, veteran actor Glenn Ford passes away at 90 (remember "Blackboard Jungle"?)...
Music Memories:
- 1961] #1 on this date: 1961] "Michael" - Highwaymen...1965] "Help!" - Beatles...
- 1964] A Beatles sighting: The Beatles draw 18,000 to the Atlantic City Convention Hall. This was a great year, I was a jock at WMID and my daughter Lynn had been born at AC Hospital in January. The Democrats held their National Convention where the Beatles played that summer also...
- 1970] Paint it Wight: Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, the Moody Blues and more, appear at the 'Isle of Wight Pop Festival'...
- 1972] One to One: John Lennon & Yoko Ono perform at their "One To One" benefit for children at Madison Square Garden...
- 1981] Released on this date: "Tatoo You" (LP) - Rolling Stones...[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
"Happy Trails" to Hilly Kristal, who had just closed his club, CBGB last October and had talked about opening a new one in Las Vegas never got a chance to do it. 75-year old Hilly passed away yesterday after a long battle with lung cancer. Hilly was instrumental in exposing such successful acts at his club like Blondie, the Ramones and Talking Heads. Sorry to hear about his passing. There is better news though... Joe McCoy brought to my attention the latest Freddy Cannon song. "Down at Fenway Park" which is being played at Fenway and here's a video of the song's opening: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=14115295 . Good job Freddy and perfect timing with the Red Sox trying to hold on to their lead over the Yankees. Good luck to you my friend...Congratulations to Mitch Lebe. Mitch, a mensch, was nicknamed "The Teenage Disk Jockey" when he was hired by then Top 40 WINS at the age of 16, 49 years ago today on August 30, 1958 by PD Mel Leeds. Mitch moved from jock to newsman after WINS and is currently at business radio formatted WBBR...Finally, thanks to Ron Alexenburg, Jim Charne, Jim Scully and those who just mailed out the final Columbia/Epic Records Alumni Associate Newsletter as a tribute to Tommy Noonan who toiled over it for years until his passing last October. It's packed with photos of Tommy and the stars he worked with, along with tributes. I shall treasure my copy...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Andy Roddick (25), Cameron Diaz (35), Michael Chiklis (41), Robert "The Chief" Parish (54), Timothy Bottoms (56), Peggy Lipton (60), Elizabeth Ashley (68), Warren Buffett (77), Bill Daily (79) and the "Queen of Country Music" Kitty Wells (88). As a tribute to Kitty and Gordon Brown (68/WRKO) who celebrate their birthdays on the same date, here's Kitty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YStk4mgKGxc ...
Timeline Countdown: The College Football Kickoff is tonight, 4 days until Labor Day and 7 days until the NFL opening game...
