Prosecution Witnesses
#8: Dianne Ogden (1101(b) witness; unavailable for trial; testimony was the video recording by Court TV during the first trial; testimony completed)

#9: Kathy Sullivan (waiter at The Grill on the Alley; after work, she went to Trader Vic’s, Dan Tana’s and the House of Blues with Spector; testimony completed)

#10: Sonjia Holguin (waitress who served Spector at the House of Blues; direct testimony completed; cross tomorrow)

Special Hearing Outside the Presence of the Jury (Requested by Doron Weinberg)

#3 Judge Douglas Sortino (From 2002-2005, prosecutor assigned to the Spector case)

Accredited Press inside the courtroom:
Afternoon session only, Harriet Ryan from the Los Angeles Times; Beth Karas from CNN In Session (unofficial capacity)

Some quick news for those of you who have been waiting for the main stream press to put out another article on this case.

Dianne Odgen testified from beyond the grave today. Her video taped testimony, preserved by the former Court TV was played for the jury. Over the objections of Weinberg, the jury was give a redacted copy of the transcript of the tape to read as the video played.

Fidler gave the jurors a brief introduction to the video tape explaining that there were blacked out areas of the tape and that they were not to speculate on the reason for that. A few minutes into the tape it’s stopped and Ms. Do asks the court to explain to the jury about the blue screen. Fidler goes onto explain about the different attorneys and their different style and tone and the way they present or cross witnesses. They are not to be concerned with that; just the content. It’s at this point that Juror #1 asks if they could keep the transcript copy to write on. Judge Fidler says yes. “People?” Fidler asks. AJ states they have no objection. Weinberg objects. Fidler notes his objection and tells him he is overruled.

There was quite a bit of redaction and black out on the tape. Any time the camera zoomed in on Spector, those images were blanked out and although you heard the audio, the video went to a blue screen. Noticeably absent was Cutler yelling at Odgen about the purse on her shoulder incident and Judge Fidler admonishing him. (Later, I verified with AJ that he had a battle over that. He had to edit it out.) After the tape was finished (it went for approximately two hours) Weinberg made a motion about this testimony, objecting to the cross examination. “I’ve never been involved in a case where, the prosecution decided on the cross of the witness. [..] It was highly offensive in many ways.” Weinberg goes onto say that because of Cutler’s style of cross, he was severed from the case and never presented another witness to the jury again. He went onto say, “And now we are associated with it. Move for a mistrial.”

To read the ongoing coverage of Sprocket on the Phil Spector retrial, take 2 visit Sprocket’s site.

http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2008/11/phil-spector-retrial-day-seven-of.html.

©Sprocket
November 18, 2008
Used with the permission of Sprocket – crime “junkie” trial watcher - writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, Sprocket, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

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Tags: Beth Karas - CNN In Session, Dianne Ogden, Doron Weinberg, Harriet Ryan - Los Angeles Times, Judge Douglas Sortino, Kathy Sullivan, Lana Clarkson, Lana Clarkson murder retrial, Lana Clarkson trial of Phil Spector, Phil Spector, Phil Spector - Lana Clarkson "allege" murder retrial, Phil Spector retrial, Sonjia Holguin, Sprocket

November 13th, 2008 (unfinished entry to be updated)

Prosecution Witnesses:

#6: Rommie Davis (High school friend who had dinner with Spector the evening of February 2nd, 2003; testimony completed)

#7: Stephanie Jennings (1101(b) witness, Carlyle Hotel incident; testimony completed)

Special Hearing Outside the Presence of the Jury: (Requested by Doron Weinberg)

#1 Detective Richard Tomlin (Los Angeles County Sheriff, testimony completed)

#2 Brian Bennett (Los Angeles County District Attorney Investigator, testimony completed)

It was another grueling day but not as long as yesterday.

I was in the courtroom pretty early. Jon has been kind enough to drop me off in front of the courthouse before he parks his car. For a time, I am the only person in the gallery. At 9:30 am, the Clarkson family arrives.

Rommie Davis is sitting at the very end of the first row. I was wrong; she will be the first witness up today. I resist the temptation to tell Rommie Davis that she and I know someone in common. One of my dearest friends for over 20 years, Sandra Kaplan, went to high school with Ms. Davis and knew her and Phil Spector. I’ve had many conversations with my friend about Spector. She’s had nothing but fond memories of him at that time. She also told me about the high school reunions and how Spector used to sit at a table by himself with quite a few bodyguards. I’ll try to see if I can get some more high school reunion stories out of my friend in the coming weeks.

Spector is wearing a black, sort of charcoal suit, white shirt and vibrant blue tie. (Here is a photo of Spector and Rachelle leaving court today. I don’t believe he was wearing the big button in court. He must have added that later.) At 9:34 am, one of the PIO staff arrives.

Weinberg wants to raise an issue about Rommie Davis’s testimony, and she is asked to step outside. Weinberg addresses the court. I don’t have his statement exact but this is close. The last time she testified at trial she offered previous testimony about drinking [on the other nights and that testimony] is irrelevant. [He] doesn’t feel she should be allowed to testify about Spector taking medications. Her objective testimony is okay, but the time she left his company…..

To read the ongoing coverage of Sprocket on the Phil Spector retrial, take 2 visit Sprocket’s site.

http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2008/11/phil-spector-retrial-day-six-of.html.

©Sprocket
November 14, 2008
Used with the permission of Sprocket – crime “junkie” trial watcher - writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, Sprocket, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Tags: Brian Bennett, Detective Richard Tomlin, Doron Weinberg, Lana Clarkson, Lana Clarkson murder retrial, Phil Spector, Phil Spector - Lana Clarkson "allege" murder, Phil Spector retrial, Rachelle Spector, Rommie Davis, Sandra Kaplan, Sprocket, Sprocket coverage of Phil Spector retrial, Stephanie Jennings