Deadlocked Spector jury resumes deliberations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The jury in the Phil Spector trial resumed deliberations on Thursday following a two-day hiatus but left for the day without reaching a verdict on murder charges against the rock producer.

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The trial judge suspended jury deliberations but refused to declare a mistrial on Tuesday after the panel said it was split 7-5 over a verdict, without saying which way it was leaning.

The jury had been deliberating for seven days in the six-month-long trial.

Spector, 67, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson with a gunshot through her mouth at his Los Angeles area home in February 2003.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler issued new instructions to the jury on Thursday aimed at breaking an impasse after two days of legal arguments with lawyers on both sides.

Fidler withdrew a jury instruction -- seen as central to the defense case -- that said the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Spector pointed a gun at Clarkson and the gun ended up inside her mouth while in Spector's hand for them to find him guilty.

At least one juror was confused by the original instruction and Fidler told the jury on Thursday to "treat it as though you never heard of it." Out of earshot from the jury, the judge described the instruction as "too restrictive," and "unfair."

Instead, he told the jury they could consider a range of possible scenarios, and still find Spector guilty, including one that suggested Clarkson had the gun in her hand at the time of her death.

The defense adamantly objected to the inclusion of the scenario that suggested Clarkson held the gun, but Fidler overruled it, saying it could be a "reasonable inference" based on the facts of the case.

Fidler also tried to clear up jurors' confusion about the concept of reasonable doubt and read a series of instructions, suggesting alternate ways the jury might want to deliberate in order to reach a verdict.

The defense has argued that the 40-year-old actress, who was working as a nightclub hostess when she met Spector, was depressed over her career and finances and shot herself in the mouth, either deliberately or by accident.

Prosecutors said during the trial that even if the gun went off mistakenly, Spector could be convicted of murder because his actions showed a conscious disregard for human life.

Spector, who did not testify in his defense, is famous for pioneering the "Wall of Sound" recording technique in the 1960s and for his work with The Beatles, The Ronettes, Tina Turner and Cher.