David Mamet Thinks Phil Spector Was Railroaded

By Gene Maddaus Tue., Jun. 14 2011 at 8:04 AM

Railroaded?

Playwright David Mamet has been on a press tour lately to discuss his recent conversion to Palin-loving
conservatism. Clearly in a provocative mood, he also went to bat for bewigged murderer Phil Spector:

"I don't think he's guilty. I definitely think there is reasonable doubt," Mamet says... "They should never have sent him away. Whether he did it or not, we'll never know but if he'd just been a regular citizen, they never would have indicted him."

Really? Is L.A. known for its unduly harsh treatment of celebrity killers? Hadn't heard that.

Mamet's entitled to his, let's say, idiosyncratic views. They wouldn't even be all that noteworthy were he not writing and directing a movie about the Spector case for HBO.

Al Pacino will play Spector, for whom Mamet has some sympathy:

He simply wanted to be by himself. Did that make him a monster?

What made him a monster was pulling guns on women and shooting Lana Clarkson in the face. And if he wanted to be by himself, then why did he tell his girlfriends "If you try to leave I'm going to kill you"? That sounds like a guy who really didn't want to be alone.

What's up with Mamet? Such a genius. So out to lunch on this.

Alan Jackson, the prosecutor in the Spector case, issued the following statement in response to Mamet's remarks:

When presented with all the facts, an objective and unbiased jury found Mr. Spector guilty of Lana Clarkson's murder. Subsequently, a panel of appellate justices determined that Mr. Spector's conviction was just and proper, citing "overwhelming evidence" of his guilt. I respect the jury's verdict and the process by which that verdict was arrived. The true injustice was suffered by Lana Clarkson, and continues to be suffered by her family and those who love and miss her.

Jackson is running for D.A., and is planning to use the Spector trial to burnish his crime-fighting image. He will also be a character in Mamet's movie, which should be interesting.

Tags:

Alan Jackson, David Mamet, District Attorney, Phil Spector

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Pupsterdumpster

This case and verdict has haunted me for a long time. I cannot see this tall and physically fit woman being bullied by this small man. Maybe there was some foolery going on earlier. Don't know. Had he not tried to clean up the scene and had called 911 and reported this accident, it might have gone differently.

Also, I think he got some awful legal advice. To pose with his hand imitating a gun just shocked me. Then later in a new trial was portrayed as a raving nutcase by saying, " Oh, PS pulled guns on evryone...not just Lana Clarkson." I think had he gone in under a temporary insanity plea things would have gone differently for him. He's been ridiculed and persecuted and his photos show a man that is caged and scared. He needed to get mental health treatment, not put in a maximum security facility and now Mr Jackson will climb up on his back to promote himself further. I am sad for both parties involved...Ms Clarkson and Spector.

Anonymous

Is it possible that Lana Clarksonshot herself in the mouth given the fact that she broke two of her own wrists at a christmas party a year or so before she had ever met Phil Spector. That certainly was evidence in the first trial that was televised and which resulted in a hung jury in favor of Phil Spector!Did Lana harbor & harm herself, and was it a pattern of hers to harm herself in public places? Since she had done this once before by breaking both her wrists in public and before she ever knew Phil Spector. Was the shooting the second manifestation of harm inflicted by Lana Clarkson herself?I am not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Phil Spector such a small man was able to have a gun in her mouth and shoot her - are you? Phil may be a fool on the hill who at times needed to feel important by waiving his guns about and scaring the people he was close to - but I am not convinced that he is a murderer. Why would he start to fire and kill people so late in his life?

Also the prosecution Alan Jackson's star witness was an illegal alien who has now been given a residency and paid for his story for the prosecution.

Could this be NOT A MURDER - but a tragic accident that Lana Clarkson inflicted upon herself? I'll say it again - an accident... Could it be that Phil Spector's only crime was providing the environment for Lana Clarkson's accidental death to happen?

What leads me away from Phil Spector is the evidence from the first trial that Lana Clarkson broke both her wrists at a Christmas party by slipping over. Lana Clarkson did not know Phil Spector when she broke both of her wrists a year earlier - but regardless Lana Clarkson was able to have a terrible accident BREAKING BOTH HER WRISTS all on her own.

bwunderlick

Mamet's next film is the made for television special on Bernie Madoff. He just wanted to live life his own way, surrounded by lies and with other people's money. Did that make him a monster?