/ 15 March 2005

Spector allegedly uses guns ‘to intimidate women’

Prosecutors are asking a judge to permit evidence at Phil Spector’s murder trial that the record producer has a history of pulling guns on women, according to court filings.

The prosecution motion, filed on February 17 and unsealed on Monday, lists nine occasions dating to 1972 when Spector allegedly pointed a gun at someone, including women he dated, folk singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen, a television producer and parking valets at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Spector’s trial for the February 3, 2003, shooting death of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson is set for September 16.

Spector (65) who created rock ‘n’ roll’s ”wall of sound” recording technique, claims Clarkson committed suicide at his home in suburban Alhambra. He remains free on $1-million bail.

Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler is expected to rule on the motion on May 23.

A call late in the day to Spector’s attorney, Bruce Cutler, in New York was not immediately returned.

According to the filings, Spector, while producing the album Death of a Ladies Man for Cohen in 1977, allegedly put an arm around Cohen’s shoulders, pointed a semiautomatic pistol at his chest and said, ”’I love you, Leonard.”’

The prosecution listed five encounters in which Spector allegedly pulled guns on women, three of whom testified at the grand jury hearing that led to his indictment.

The motion argued the incidents show Spector had a ”common plan” of using guns ”to intimidate women into staying with him”.

In one case, he forced a woman to sleep with him and in another he tried to make a woman remove her clothes, the motion alleged.

After an arrest in 1972, Spector pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor crime of carrying a loaded firearm in a public place and was given a year of probation. In 1975 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm and got two years probation. – Sapa-AP