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Updated Oct. 3, 2007, 3:46 p.m. ET
Judge tells Phil Spector's lawyer he wants retrial to begin within six months


Don't get too used to life outside the courtroom, Phil Spector.

The judge who presided over the music legend's murder trial, which ended in a hung jury Sept. 26, said Wednesday that he is eager to get a retrial under way.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler told a lawyer for Spector at a scheduling hearing that he wants the next trial to begin within six months.

Spector, who was not present for the hearing, is in the process of a hiring new legal team, defense lawyer Christopher Plourd told the judge. He said Spector is interviewing between five and six attorneys for the job of lead counsel.

Plourd said that the lead attorney will decide whether he stays on the case. He said Dennis Riordan, a San Francisco attorney, will continue in the role of appellate specialist, but two other lawyers for Spector, Linda Kenney-Baden and Roger Rosen, will not work on the retrial.

Spector and the attorneys he selects are to be in court Oct. 23 for another hearing.

The jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of conviction after hearing five months of testimony about the 2003 death of Lana Clarkson. The 40-year-old actress was shot to death in Spector's foyer. His defense claimed she committed suicide. Prosecutors maintained he killed her after she curtailed a sexual encounter.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Spector faces 15 years to life in prison.



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