Phil Spector ...........Prozac and Topamax

[Guest guest]

Judge: Prosecutors can scan Spector's civil-suit deposition for

evidence

Phil Spector is accused of killing actress Lana son in 2003.

By Sweetingham

Court TV

LOS ANGELES — Music man Phil Spector's own words may come back to

haunt him again.

Last year, a judge ruled that incriminating statements Spector made

to police after he was arrested on suspicion of shooting actress

Lana son could be used against him at his upcoming murder trial.

Spector's attorneys lost another war over words Thursday when the

judge ruled that portions of a deposition Spector gave in a civil

suit filed against his former defense attorney Shapiro were

to be handed over to prosecutors and released to the public.

Spector, 66, has pleaded not guilty to son's Feb. 3, 2003,

shooting death. He was not present at Thursday's hearing.

Story continues

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His new defense team argued that the sealed deposition contained

privileged and confidential information.

" It's personal and private, " attorney Bruce Cutler argued. " There's

nothing [in the deposition] that has to do with the most salient,

the most salient, part of this case: Feb-oh-three-oh-three. "

Cutler was referring to the date officers discovered son's dead

body sprawled on a chair in the foyer of Spector's Alhambra mansion.

But prosecutors said they wanted to see for themselves whether

Spector made admissions that would help their case. Their request

was a veritable fishing expedition, as Deputy District Attorney Alan

admitted Thursday, they were arguing " from a blind spot, "

having never seen the transcript.

Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler announced that after reading the

document himself, he found " no smoking gun, " but did find that there

was information that was " both discoverable and admissible. "

Fidler made reference to portions of the transcript dealing with " a

timeline, " as well as " statements from Mr. Spector regarding his

state of sobriety. "

Spector first met son, 40, at the House of Blues in West

Hollywood, where she was a hostess in the VIP room, and he invited

her for a limo ride back to his Pyrenees castle.

The limo driver later told police he heard a gunshot and saw his

boss emerge with a gun in his hand saying he had shot a woman.

Spector has since renounced such claims and suggested that the aging

B-movie actress shot herself.

Judge Fidler will go over the deposition transcript page by page in

the next few days and release the portions that are admissible,

according to a court spokesperson.

But the judge has yet to rule on whether to release portions about

Spector's financial dealings with Shapiro, whom he fired in January

2004 and then filed suit against in order to recoup part of a $1

million retainer fee.

" As far as the finances go, that's nobody's concern, " Cutler argued.

The stocky, gravel-voiced New York attorney, who once represented

mob boss Gotti, raised his hands as he stood at the lectern and

described what he called the " financial rape " of Spector by his

former attorney Shapiro.

" The deposition papers, which we have right here, are an attempt by

Mr. Shapiro to recover money — a massive amount of money — that was

taken from him under false pretenses and that he felt wasn't

earned, " Cutler said.

Spector's suit claims that after his arrest he was " laboring under a

tremendous amount of mental stress " and " had not been able to take

his medication for several days, " and that's when the attorney

famous for helping O.J. Simpson beat murder charges took advantage

of him.

" As a friend and confidante to Mr. Spector, Shapiro was well aware

of the fact that Mr. Spector was under the care of a mental health

professional and was prescribed medications for the purpose of

stabilizing Mr. Spector's mental condition, " according to his July

2004 suit.

Toxicology reports indicate that Spector had alcohol, as well as the

anti-depressant medication Prozac and the anti-convulsant drug

Topamax, in his system at the time of his arrest.

Spector said in his suit that Shapiro did little work and " coerced "

him into signing a retainer agreement, which listed total fees of no

less than $1.5 million, including Shapiro's hourly rate of $600.

Shapiro's attorneys deposed Spector in July 2005. They argued in

response papers that Shapiro provided the producer with " stellar

representation, " including pressuring Alhambra police for his

immediate release from jail, out of the sight of media.

Shapiro also declared in court documents that Spector was simply " a

friendly acquaintance, I have never considered him to be a close

friend. "

With his April 24 murder trial looming, Spector unexpectedly

withdrew his suit against Shapiro late last year and it was

dismissed without prejudice, which means he may file the same

complaint again at a later time.

But there's still that mysterious deposition to deal with.

" I don't want the court to feel, or the world to feel, or the people

to feel, or the press to feel there's anything in here I'm ashamed

of, or trying to hide, " Cutler said Thursday. " Mr. Spector was taken

advantage of, so he brought a civil suit. "

" Clients of mine in New York have been accused of taking money not

legally, " Cutler joked Thursday, praising his client's law-abiding

means of redress. " Here's Mr. Spector trying to get his money back

legally. "

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