Arnie refuses post-divorce support for Shriver (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is refusing his estranged wife Maria Shriver's request for financial support after they divorce, documents showed Thursday.

The former bodybuilder and politician, who put his film comeback plans on hold after it emerged in May that he had fathered a child with the couple's former housekeeper, is also seeking joint custody of their children.

Shriver filed for divorce three weeks ago citing "irreconcilable differences" with her husband, whom she met in 1977 and married in 1986, and in her court documents requested spousal support.

In papers filed Wednesday by Schwarzenegger to the Los Angeles Superior Court, his lawyer Bob Kaufman did not cross either of the boxes indicating spousal support, and checked another seeking to make the court unable to award support.

The documents, published celebrity website TMZ, showed that the former governor agreed the former couple should have joint custody of their two minor children, 17-year-old Patrick and 13-year-old Christopher.

Shriver and Schwarzenegger have two other children: Katherine, 21, and Christina, 19.

Schwarzenegger, 63, admitted in May that he had fathered a child with the family's long-time housekeeper, Mildred Baena, and announced the couple's separation.

The Austrian-born former bodybuilder, a liberal Republican, had left office in January, and started to return to show business, with plans for a "Governator" comic book and animated TV show.

But he put his comeback on hold in May, telling his agents that "all his motion picture projects currently underway or being negotiated (should) stop planning until further notice."

Schwarzenegger and Shriver's marriage came under the spotlight over the years, notably amid reports of his history of groping women during campaigning for the 2003 recall election that Schwarzenegger won, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Shriver, a former TV journalist, defended him at the time, and stood by his side during his seven years at the helm of the Golden State, a term that ended when Jerry Brown succeeded him at the start of this year.

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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.

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