Key Spector Attorney Quits

Aug 27, 04:25 PM

Current Headlines: A key attorney Monday quit the team defending music producer Phil Spector in the 2003 shooting death of an actress in his Los Angeles-area home.

I do not agree with the strategy which will be employed in presenting the defense in this case to the jury on summation, attorney Bruce Cutler said in a statement. I can no longer effectively represent my client under those conditions.

The 4-month-old trial in the death of actress Lana Clarkson resumed after the announcement, which came on what was believed to be the last day of testimony, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cutler said Spector understood the attorney's reasons for leaving and consented to his departure. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler also approved Cutler's move.

The judge set final arguments for Sept. 5.

Spector's defense maintains that Clarkson killed herself in February 2003 in Spector's mansion in Alhambra; the prosecution says Spector shot the actress.