Sheriff’s detectives in Los Angeles will not be ready to present a case against music producer Phil Spector at his scheduled court date next week, nearly six months after an actress was shot to death in his mansion, the lead investigator said yesterday (July 29).
Spector, 62, whose “wall of sound” recording technique transformed 1960s pop music, was arrested for investigation of murder after the body of actress Lana Clarkson was found Feb. 3 in the foyer of his mansion in suburban Alhambra. He is free on $1 million bail.
Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Rosenberg said Spector’s bail is likely to be extended for another month while the investigation proceeds. “We’re still waiting to get all of the reports back from the crime lab,” he said. Rosenberg said a Tuesday hearing will be a bail hearing instead of an arraignment and Spector will not be required to appear. “It may be handled on the phone,” he said.
Spector implied in an Esquire magazine interview last month that Clarkson may have shot herself, but sheriff’s investigators said in March that they discounted suicide as a possible cause of death.
The district attorney’s office has said it cannot decide whether to file charges against Spector until the sheriff’s department brings prosecutors a case.
A call to the office of Spector’s attorney, Robert Shapiro, seeking comment was not immediately returned. 
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