Jackson doctor trial to go ahead as appeal denied (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California appeals court Wednesday refused to order the sequestration of the jury in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, allowing the proceeding to go ahead as planned.

The decision means that jury selection in the long-delayed trial of Dr. Conrad Murray can begin as scheduled Thursday, with opening arguments expected in late September.

Murray is accused of delivering the fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid to the "Thriller" singer, causing his death in June 2009 at age 50.

He faces four years in prison if convicted.

Murray's lawyers last week filed a late appeal demanding that the jury be sequestered during the four- to six-week trial in order to keep them away from the massive publicity and media commentary the case is expected to generate.

The Los Angeles judge overseeing the trial ruled last week that he did not believe the jury should be locked away from family and friends. A California appeals court Wednesday upheld that decision.

Murray was at Jackson's bedside in his rented Los Angeles mansion when he was found not breathing on June 25, 2009, weeks ahead of a planned series of comeback concerts in London.

The doctor's lawyers are expected to argue at trial that the pop star was addicted to sedatives and painkillers and could have given himself a second, fatal dose of propofol when Murray was out of the room.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Yahoo! News

Judge: Jackson trial 'on course' despite appeal (AP)

LOS ANGELES – A judge says the trial of the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death is "on course" despite an appeal filed last week by the physician's attorneys.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor says jury selection in the case will begin as planned on Thursday unless the appeals court issues a stay in the case.

Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray on Friday appealed a ruling by Pastor that jurors in the upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial will not be sequestered.

Pastor says he's confident justices on the 2nd District Court of Appeal will provide some guidance soon.

Murray pleaded not guilty and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Authorities say he gave Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives in June 2009.

Yahoo! News

Attorneys for Jackson doctor file emergency appeal (AP)

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent – Sat Sep 3, 4:25 am ET

LOS ANGELES – In an 11th hour appeal, lawyers for Michael Jackson's doctor sought to overturn a judge's refusal to sequester jurors, arguing they would be "poisoned" by publicity unless they were kept in isolation during the involuntary manslaughter trial.

Attorneys late Friday also asked to halt the start of jury selection on Sept. 8 until the issue of sequestration is decided by California's 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Dr. Conrad Murray is accused of giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol in his home just before the pop star's 2009 death. Jackson was said to be suffering from insomnia and was desperate for sleep. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and could face up to four years in prison if convicted.

In a 28-page petition filed just before the long Labor Day weekend, lawyers challenged a recent ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor in which he expressed faith in jurors' ability to ignore publicity about the high profile case.

Attorneys Nareg Gourjian and Edward Chernoff said in their petition that it would be impossible for jurors to avoid media reports and commentary unless they were placed in a hotel during Murray's trial. They acknowledged that their request was extraordinary, but said Jackson's legacy as one of the biggest celebrities in the world would feed extensive news coverage of the trial.

They predicted that jurors will be inundated with reports in supermarkets, bars, gyms and coffee shops and on the Internet.

"News organizations have planned sets overlooking the courthouse as if they were preparing for the Rose Bowl," the attorneys said in the petition.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said they would have no comment on the petition.

Four pages of the appeal were devoted to the recently concluded Casey Anthony trial in Florida and the CNN commentary of Nancy Grace, who attorneys said campaigned for Anthony's conviction. Defense attorneys predicted similarly opinionated commentary on the Murray trial.

"There is sincere danger that a well-meaning juror will be more impressed with an `expert' on television than one presented by the parties at trial," the petition said.

Yahoo! News

CA Supreme Court won't hear Phil Spector appeal (AP)

LOS ANGELES – The California Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider legendary rock music producer Phil Spector's appeal of his murder conviction.

Spector's attorneys have argued that during the trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler prejudiced the case by allowing prosecutors to use pictures of him in closing arguments as if he was a witness.

They also have said Fidler improperly allowed jurors to watch a videotape of him explaining testimony by a witness about forensic evidence at a hearing outside the jury's presence. By allowing jurors to watch the tape and see the photos, Fidler turned himself into a witness and violated his neutrality, attorneys said.

An appeals court refused to consider the issue in May. That court has said there was enough evidence to convict Spector of the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in 2003.

Spector, famous for his work with The Beatles, The Righteous Brothers and others, is serving 19 years to life in prison on a second-degree murder conviction.

Yahoo! News

California Supreme Court turns down Phil Spector appeal (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The California Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to review the 2009 murder conviction of music producer Phil Spector, turning down an appeal that had been filed by his attorneys.

Spector's lawyers had asked the state's highest court to take another look at the case after a three-justice panel from the California 2nd District Court of Appeal earlier this year upheld his conviction of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

The killing occurred at Spector's suburban Los Angeles mansion, which was called the "Pyrenees Castle."

Spector, 71, is famous for his signature "wall of sound" recording technique, and he worked with the Beatles, the Ronettes and the Ramones in the 1960s and 1970s.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Yahoo! News

Scary movie "Dream House" loses ratings appeal (Reuters)

By Joshua L. Weinstein Joshua L. Weinstein – Wed Jul 6, 7:56 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap) – "Dream House," a thriller starring real-life newlyweds Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, has lost a bid to have its "R" rating softened.

The appeals board of the Motion Picture Assn. of America said Wednesday that the movie merited the rating -- which requires U.S. viewers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult -- because of "some violence."

The film's producer still believes it will ultimately receive a PG-13 rating.

"They gave us a list of several things in the movie that they thought should be cut," Greg Mielcarz, Morgan Creek's executive VP of marketing, told TheWrap. "We're going to ... work with them together to ensure that we receive a PG-13."

The Universal Pictures release revolves around a family who discover that their new home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. It was directed by Jim Sheridan, and is set for release on September 30.

In order to have a rating changed, two-thirds of the members of the appeals board have to agree that the rating is "clearly erroneous." The MPAA says that the board reviews between 800 and 900 films each year and that fewer than a dozen ratings are appealed each year.

(Edited by Dean Gooodman)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

Yahoo! News

Court denies appeal by Gibson's ex over attorneys (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 33 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – A California appeals court has rejected a bid by Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend to remove his attorneys from a contentious child custody case because she consulted with one of their law partners.

Court records show the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles rejected an appeal by Oksana Grigorieva (gree-GOR'-yeh-vuh) last week without hearing oral arguments.

The Russian musician had been trying to disqualify the actor-director's attorneys because she consulted with their firm in 2008 on a custody issue related to her son with actor Timothy Dalton.

The court refused to overturn a May ruling by a family law judge that Grigorieva waited too long to cite a potential conflict of interest. The former couple have been fighting over custody of their infant daughter for more than a year.

Yahoo! News

APNewsBreak: Gibson's ex files appeal over lawyer (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – Wed Jun 8, 10:30 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend has asked an appeals court to disqualify the Oscar winner's attorneys handling a bitter custody dispute because she consulted with one of their partners in a paternity dispute with another actor.

Attorneys for Oksana Grigorieva asked the California 2nd District Court of Appeal to intervene in the case on Monday. They sought to either disqualify Gibson's attorneys or require a judge hearing the case to review records of the Russian musician's dealings with the firm.

Grigorieva met with a partner in the firm of Kolodny and Anteau in 2008 at Gibson's suggestion, while she was dealing with custody issues involving her son with British actor Timothy Dalton, according to court filings.

The appeal said Gibson's attorneys sought records of the dispute with Dalton, including emails, text messages and other correspondence between the former couple. Dalton played James Bond in two films in the late 1980s.

Stephen Kolodny, one of the Gibson's attorneys handling his dispute with Grigorieva over their infant daughter, said in an email that he would not comment on Grigorieva's appeal.

His partner, Ronald Anteau, has not appeared in the case, but Grigorieva's filing named her discussion with him as important to her current fight with Gibson.

"The matters discussed with Mr. Anteau concerned the same subject matter that has been inquired into in the present case by Stephen Kolodny both in open court and at deposition," her filing said.

Grigorieva asked the court to issue a ruling before a key hearing this month.

Last month, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon ruled that Grigorieva waited too long to raise the issue of a potential conflict with Kolodny's representation of Gibson. She claimed she did not make the connection between her consultation with Anteau and Gibson's attorneys until recently.

Grigorieva wants the appellate court to require the judge to review Anteau's notes of his meeting with her and reconsider the ruling or disqualify Kolodny and Anteau's firm outright.

Gibson and Grigorieva's custody case is by law confidential, as would be any case she had involving Dalton. Her efforts to disqualify Gibson's attorneys have been heard in open court.

The case has spanned 65 hearings and the judge had issued more than 100 rulings. There were thousands of pages of pleadings in the case, and most of Gibson's filings were handled by Kolodny's firm, Gordon said.

Grigorieva's attorney Daniel Horowitz has said his client is dropping domestic violence allegations from the case and probably won't introduce racist and sexist rants made by the "Braveheart" star that were posted by the celebrity website RadarOnline.com.

That announcement nearly two months was made after Gibson pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence in a case involving a January 2010 fight. The actor was sentenced to serve 16 hours of community service, which he has performed in recent days with Mending Kids International in Guatemala.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/celebritydocket

Yahoo! News

APNewsBreak: Gibson's ex files appeal over lawyer (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – Wed Jun 8, 2:53 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend has asked an appeals court to disqualify the Oscar winner's attorneys handling a bitter custody dispute because she consulted with one of their partners in a paternity dispute with another actor.

Attorneys for Oksana Grigorieva asked the California 2nd District Court of Appeal to intervene in the case on Monday. They sought to either disqualify Gibson's attorneys or require a judge hearing the case to review records of the Russian musician's dealings with the firm.

Grigorieva met with a partner in the firm of Kolodny and Anteau in 2008 at Gibson's suggestion, while she was dealing with custody issues involving her son with British actor Timothy Dalton, according to court filings.

The appeal said Gibson's attorneys sought records of the dispute with Dalton, including emails, text messages and other correspondence between the former couple. Dalton played James Bond in two films in the late 1980s.

Stephen Kolodny, one of the Gibson's attorneys handling his dispute with Grigorieva over their infant daughter, said in an email that he would not comment on Grigorieva's appeal.

His partner, Ronald Anteau, has not appeared in the case, but Grigorieva's filing named her discussion with him as important to her current fight with Gibson.

"The matters discussed with Mr. Anteau concerned the same subject matter that has been inquired into in the present case by Stephen Kolodny both in open court and at deposition," her filing said.

Grigorieva asked the court to issue a ruling before a key hearing this month.

Last month, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon ruled that Grigorieva waited too long to raise the issue of a potential conflict with Kolodny's representation of Gibson. She claimed she did not make the connection between her consultation with Anteau and Gibson's attorneys until recently.

Grigorieva wants the appellate court to require the judge to review Anteau's notes of his meeting with her and reconsider the ruling or disqualify Kolodny and Anteau's firm outright.

Gibson and Grigorieva's custody case is by law confidential, as would be any case she had involving Dalton. Her efforts to disqualify Gibson's attorneys have been heard in open court.

The case has spanned 65 hearings and the judge had issued more than 100 rulings. There were thousands of pages of pleadings in the case, and most of Gibson's filings were handled by Kolodny's firm, Gordon said.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/celebritydocket

Yahoo! News

Actor Wesley Snipes loses tax case appeal (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Actor Wesley Snipes, serving a three-year prison sentence for failing to file income tax returns, suffered a legal setback on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case.

Snipes, 48, the star of the "Blade" action movies, was convicted in 2008 in a Florida court for willful failure to file federal tax returns from 1999 through 2001.

Snipes, who has served nearly one year of his three-year term, was accused of not filing personal income tax returns and not paying any taxes from 1999 through 2004 despite earning more than $37 million as an actor and producer.

Attorneys for Snipes said the case was improperly brought in Florida and should have been moved to New York, but the trial judge and a U.S. appeals court rejected those arguments.

Defense attorneys said that, during the earlier tax years in question, Snipes lived with his family in New York City and then moved to a home in the northern New Jersey suburbs. He also had a residence near Los Angeles.

U.S. Justice Department prosecutors said Florida was the proper venue for the case.

They presented evidence at trial that Snipes was born in Florida, had a home in Windermere, Florida, since 1992, had a Florida driver's license and listed Windermere as his residence in contracts for the "Blade" movies.

In the Supreme Court appeal, attorneys for Snipes said the trial judge should have held a hearing on the evidence about venue before submitting the issue to the jury.

The high court rejected the appeal without any comment, refusing to hear the case.

The Supreme Court case is Wesley Snipes v. United States, No. 10-1075.

(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

Yahoo! News

Supreme Court turns down Snipes' appeal (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned away the latest attempt by actor Wesley Snipes to get his conviction and prison sentence on tax charges overturned.

The high court refused Monday to hear an appeal from Snipes, convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file income tax returns.

Snipes started a three-year term in a federal minimum security prison in December. He has appeared in dozens of films, from "White Men Can't Jump" and "Demolition Man" in the early 1990s to the blockbuster Blade trilogy.

Snipes wanted his trial held in New York City, where he says he lived, but the government brought charges against him in Florida, where Snipes held a driver's license. The lower courts refused to let him have an evidentiary hearing on this issue.

Yahoo! News

Court refuses to reconsider Spector's appeal (AP)

LOS ANGELES – An appeals court on Friday refused to reconsider music producer Phil Spector's appeal of his murder conviction, saying there was overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal panel acknowledged it did not consider an issue that defense lawyers now say was critical to his conviction.

The panel blamed the lawyers for failing to sufficiently brief the point and said they had no obligation to consider it.

They quoted case law saying, "Issues do not have a life of their own: if they are not raised ... we consider the issues waived."

Spector, a legendary rock music producer, was convicted two years ago of fatally shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in 2003. He is serving 19 years to life in prison on a second-degree murder conviction.

His first trial ended in a hung jury; the second ended in a conviction.

Defense lawyer Dennis Riordan said he will be filing an appeal with the California Supreme Court on June 13. Riordan said in an interview the court ignored a central issue of the case.

"This is the single piece of evidence they can't explain away," he said. "Shooting the messenger is simply not an adequate response to a legal issue of this importance."

Attorneys had argued in the appeal that during the trial, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler prejudiced the case by allowing prosecutors to use pictures of him in closing arguments as if he was a witness.

They said Fidler also improperly allowed jurors to watch a videotape of him explaining testimony by a witness about forensic evidence at a hearing outside the jury's presence.

Riordan, with colleagues Charles Sevilla and Donald M. Horgan, argued in the petition for rehearing that by allowing jurors to watch the tape and see the photos, Fidler turned himself into a witness and violated his neutrality.

"No aspect of the trial was more startling," they said, noting that in discussions within the legal community, "the assertion that prosecutors included multiple images of the presiding judge among the photos of their witnesses is met without exception by shocked incredulity."

In an addendum to their original ruling, the three-member appeals panel conceded that Spector raised the issue briefly but said, "This cursory treatment in Spector's opening brief does not constitute an adequate presentation of the issue."

"Moreover, given the overwhelming evidence against Spector, we cannot see how the issue could have prejudiced him," they said.

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Phil Spector's lawyers seek rehearing of appeal (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Lawyers for music producer Phil Spector have asked an appeals court to take a second look at his arguments for a new trial, contending the court ignored a defense argument that the trial judge had violated his neutrality in the case.

In a petition to the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, attorneys said the court's rejection of Spector's murder conviction appeal has left the legal community incredulous.

They suggested the court failed to consider that Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler violated his neutrality by allowing the prosecution to show photographs of him among prosecution witnesses. They said this was coupled with a videotape of the judge explaining key forensic evidence.

Dennis Riordan, joined by fellow attorneys Charles Sevilla and Donald M. Horgan, alleged that jurors watched the tape during prosecution closing arguments, a move that turned the judge into a witness.

"No aspect of the trial was more startling," Riordan said, noting that in discussions within the legal community, "the assertion that prosecutors included multiple images of the presiding judge among the photos of their witnesses is met without exception by shocked incredulity."

Spector, a legendary rock music producer, was convicted two years ago of fatally shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in 2003. He is serving 19 years to life in prison on a second-degree murder conviction.

His first trial ended in a hung jury; the second ended in a conviction.

The videotape of Fidler was from a hearing in which the trial judge explained a forensic witness' testimony about blood back spatter on Clarkson's wrist. The appeal quoted a prosecutor's statement to jurors: "See with your own eyes where (the expert) and the judge indicated the back spatter was on Lana's wrist."

That and other statements made Fidler a witness for the prosecution, Riordan said, and the defense had no opportunity to cross-examine him.

Riordan said a judge is forbidden to testify for one side or the other in a trial over which he is presiding. When defense attorneys asked the judge to tell jurors his comments were not part of the evidence, Fidler refused, they said.

In rejecting the defense's original appeal, the California appellate court validated Fidler's actions. The May 2 opinion found that on the issue of the videotape, "a trial court's power, indeed its responsibility, to clarify testimony is well-settled in California."

The new defense petition called out a footnote in that opinion that said the judicial panel didn't address the photos of the Fidler because it was not raised as an independent issue in the opening brief. Spector's lawyers said in the new appeal that "the court cannot avoid confronting the significance of the photographic display by invoking a procedural bar."

Riordan said the defense would be taking other issues in the appeal to the California Supreme Court, but that the appellate court must first address the photo display, which was "the factual cornerstone of the defendant's federal constitutional claims."

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Phil Spector's lawyers seek rehearing of appeal (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Lawyers for music producer Phil Spector have asked an appeals court to take a second look at his arguments for a new trial, contending the court ignored a defense argument that the trial judge had violated his neutrality in the case.

In a petition to the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, attorneys said the court's rejection of Spector's murder conviction appeal has left the legal community incredulous.

They suggested the court failed to consider that Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler violated his neutrality by allowing the prosecution to show photographs of him among prosecution witnesses. They said this was coupled with a videotape of the judge explaining key forensic evidence.

Dennis Riordan, joined by fellow attorneys Charles Sevilla and Donald M. Horgan, alleged that jurors watched the tape during prosecution closing arguments, a move that turned the judge into a witness.

"No aspect of the trial was more startling," Riordan said, noting that in discussions within the legal community, "the assertion that prosecutors included multiple images of the presiding judge among the photos of their witnesses is met without exception by shocked incredulity."

Spector, a legendary rock music producer, was convicted two years ago of fatally shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in 2003. He is serving 19 years to life in prison on a second-degree murder conviction.

His first trial ended in a hung jury; the second ended in a conviction.

The videotape of Fidler was from a hearing in which the trial judge explained a forensic witness' testimony about blood back spatter on Clarkson's wrist. The appeal quoted a prosecutor's statement to jurors: "See with your own eyes where (the expert) and the judge indicated the back spatter was on Lana's wrist."

That and other statements made Fidler a witness for the prosecution, Riordan said, and the defense had no opportunity to cross-examine him.

Riordan said a judge is forbidden to testify for one side or the other in a trial over which he is presiding. When defense attorneys asked the judge to tell jurors his comments were not part of the evidence, Fidler refused, they said.

In rejecting the defense's original appeal, the California appellate court validated Fidler's actions. The May 2 opinion found that on the issue of the videotape, "a trial court's power, indeed its responsibility, to clarify testimony is well-settled in California."

The new defense petition called out a footnote in that opinion that said the judicial panel didn't address the photos of the Fidler because it was not raised as an independent issue in the opening brief. Spector's lawyers said in the new appeal that "the court cannot avoid confronting the significance of the photographic display by invoking a procedural bar."

Riordan said the defense would be taking other issues in the appeal to the California Supreme Court, but that the appellate court must first address the photo display, which was "the factual cornerstone of the defendant's federal constitutional claims."

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

California court rejects Phil Spector appeal (AP)

By Linda Deutsch, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent – Tue May 3, 6:56 am ET

LOS ANGELES – A California appeals court rejected music producer Phil Spector's bid to overturn his murder conviction on Monday, saying it was permissible for prosecutors to call a parade of women who said Spector had threatened them with guns in the past.

A three-member panel of the state 2nd District Court of Appeal affirmed Spector's conviction in a strongly worded, 81-page decision rejecting a number of claims made by defense attorney Dennis Riordan.

The judges also dismissed the contention that actress Lana Clarkson was despondent and might have killed herself with a gun at Spector's home. In making that ruling, the panel pointed to evidence from her mother that suggested Clarkson was hopeful about the future.

The panel also concluded the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence to prove "Clarkson did not die by her own hand."

In addition, the judges found there was neither judicial nor prosecutorial misconduct at the trial, and that the testimony of five women who claimed Spector threatened them with guns was properly admitted, even though some of the incidents dated back 30 years.

Spector was never charged in those instances. Still, the judges said the testimony showed a pattern of gun-related behavior.

Spector's lawyer said the women's testimony was inflammatory.

Riordan also issued a statement later in the day saying the appellate decision "does not begin to adequately address the prosecution's remarkable assault on constitutional rights to a neutral judge and to cross-examine all adverse witnesses."

Riordan said the same was true of the ruling on evidentiary questions.

He said that he would seek a re-hearing before the court of appeal and if necessary will petition for review by the California Supreme Court.

On another topic, the judicial panel approved a general inference by a witness that Spector was a misogynist who expressed hatred of women and said he wanted to blow their heads off.

Spector was convicted two years ago of shooting the actress to death at his Alhambra mansion in 2003. He's serving 19 years to life in prison on a second-degree murder conviction. His first trial ended in a hung jury; the second in conviction.

The opinion, written by appellate Justice Joan Dempsey Klein and concurred with by Justices Patti Kitchings and Richard D. Aldrich, validated the actions of Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler in every instance challenged by the defense.

Riordan insisted that Judge Fidler erred when he allowed prosecutors to show jurors a videotape from a hearing held outside the presence of Spector and the jury.

On the tape, Fidler was seen interpreting the testimony of a key forensic witness about the position of blood spatter on Clarkson's body. Riordan said the judge had taken on the role of a witness. The appeals court disagreed.

"A trial court's power, indeed its responsibility, to clarify testimony is well-settled in California," the decision said.

The justices also rejected the claim that prosecutors crossed a line in closing arguments when they accused defense experts of testifying a certain way because they were paid a lot of money.

The appeals court said, "Harsh and colorful attacks on the credibility of opposing witness are permissible."

Throughout the decision, the panel returned repeatedly to Spector's statement to a chauffeur on the night of Clarkson's death that, "I think I killed somebody."

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.