Spector hires Menendez brothers' lawyer

LOS ANGELES — Music producer Phil Spector has hired Leslie Abramson, one of the country's best known and most colourful criminal defence lawyers, to handle his murder case, ending his relationship with Robert Shapiro, Abramson told The Associated Press today.

Abramson, who became famous for her role in the murder trial of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, said she had been phasing out her defence practice with an eye toward retirement when she was contacted by Spector.

"I was about to hang it up when I got the call," she said. "No other defendant would get me to give up my freedom. No other defendant was someone I considered an idol, an icon and the definition of cool."

Spector, famous for creating the legendary Wall of Sound, which gave a symphonic feeling to 1950s rock 'n' roll, has worked with the Beatles, Ronettes, Righteous Brothers and many other musicians.

He is charged with fatally shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his suburban Alhambra mansion Feb. 3, 2003. Spector, 62, is free on $1 million (U.S.) bail.

"I don't see any evidence that he did it," Abramson said, adding she has studied the case files.

Spector, who was charged with murder Nov. 20, suggested earlier this year in an interview with Esquire magazine that Clarkson may have shot herself.

Shapiro, the former O.J. Simpson lawyer, was on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment today, but he previously confirmed to The AP he was leaving the case.

Neither lawyer gave a reason for the switch, but Abramson said the decision came in the wake of charges being filed against Spector.

"It is not unreasonable for the client to say, `I've got to reevaluate things now,' " she said.

Abramson, 60, began her career in the Los Angeles public defender's office and developed a reputation as a fierce advocate for her clients.

With the Menendez case, she became perhaps the most famous woman lawyer in the country, arguing the brothers killed their wealthy parents in "imperfect self-defence."

Separate juries heard each brother's case and both deadlocked, an enormous victory for the defence. But the brothers were convicted in a second trial and are serving life sentences without possibility of parole.

Along with Abramson, Spector hired Marcia Morrissey, the lawyer who worked with her on the Menendez trials and later defended Carey Stayner in the high-profile Yosemite murder case.

She is incredibly overrated. Like Johnny Cochran - she seized the publicity from a very flawed, atypical courtroom result (in her case the first Menendez trial), and has run with it, despite the fact that a close inspection of what she did during that trial does not recommend her.

She presented a number of Polaroid photos (essentially a mosaic image) during the first Menendez trial – showing the torso and legs of a boy in the bathtub of the Menendez home. It was entered into evidence to show that Jose Menendez had a prurient interest in his own son, to buttress the defense claim that he abused the boys. The photos did not show the child’s face and were clearly of a young boy. At no time was there authentication of the photos – Abramson entered exhibits which were large blow ups of the photos, but not the Polaroid photos themselves. I smelled a rat when I saw this on Court TV in real time – these photos could have been faked using a young boy and the access that the defense had to the house before the trial. As these enlarged photos were being entered into evidence – no one on the prosecution side asked to see the originals, or to examine the serial number (production lot number) which was stamped n the back of Polaroid film at that time. Had they done so – something tells me that the sequence and production date of the film wouldn’t have synched with the time frame allegedly portrayed in the photos.

She’s not nearly as good as her image suggests. Good luck Phil Spector – you’re going to need it.

Leslie Abramson's toughness started with her staring down bullies since her turbulent childhood in Queens, NY. She spent seven years as a public defender exposed her to an ``astonishing number . . . of remarkably stupid, totally crazy or deplorably lazy'' judges whom she charmed and dominated (``No one had to tell me how to take over a courtroom'').

In 1981, four years into her private practice, she represented one of the killers in the Bob's Big Boy massacre, that year's ``crime of the century.'' Despite her ferocious defense, she lost the case--``all the way to the death penalty.'' But from then on she was on the shortlist for high-profile capital cases. Abramson clearly relishes describing her courtroom tactics and behind-the-scenes maneuvers, so it is disappointing that she confines her commentary on the Menendez trial to a summary of the facts of that case, a few choice words for Judge Stanley Weisberg, and a plea to ``pull the plug'' on cameras in the courtroom. Despite the surprisingly short shrift given to the Menendez trial, a terrific introduction to criminal defense by a master practitioner.

Most people will know Leslie Abramson as the defender of Erik Menendez and as one of the seemingly ubiquitous commentators on the O. J. Simpson trial. If you remember her as brash, blond, and opinionated, you'll certainly recognize her in her 1997 autobiography 'The Defense Is Ready'. Abramson doesn't try for sensationalism, she is still passionate about her clients in general and Erik Menendez in particular.

Erik Menendez's defense attorney has proved why she's one of the best in the business. For 20 years predating her controversial representation of the younger Menendez brother, Abramson worked on behalf of accused baby-killers, bank robbers, and hit men, both in private practice and for the public defender's office in L.A. More than a collection of war stories, this book shows how the attitudes and tactics evident in the Menendez defense informed Abramson's work from the beginning. Her willingness to withhold judgment, to become immersed in the life of her client, and to argue like hell--not necessarily for exoneration but for a ``fair verdict''--are trademark Abramson strengths.

Leslie Abramson never met a felon she didn't like. . . . As one client, a contract killer, puts it, "Leslie was so good. For a while there she even had me believing I didn't do it." . . . Ms. Abramson has an astounding ability to excuse the inexcusable.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.