By: E&P Staff Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler granted a defense request on Wednesday to allow only one reporter to attend a tour of Phil Spector's Alhambra mansion for jurors in the music producer's murder trial.
Originally, Fidler had tentatively decided to allow Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch and Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Hong to view the home with jurors; Spector's home is the scene of the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.
However, defense attorney Roger Rosen objected to admitting Hong, another Times staff writer, and a Court TV producer during a closed-door meeting with Fidler on Wednesday.
According to court spokesman Allan Parachini, Rosen's objection stemmed from the defense attorney's opinion that the coverage of the case by the reporters in question had "not been favorable."
Fidler then ruled that only one reporter could attend the tour of Spector's mansion. Deutsch had earlier been chosen by the trial press corps as the pool reporter.
Parachini told the media that Fidler's decision had balanced the rights of both the media and the public versus Spector's right to privacy.
However, many in the media are not happy with Fidler's ruling.
Author and Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne, who is covering the Spector case, told the Los Angeles Times that, "the idea that the defense and the defendant are deciding which of the media can go to the house is absolutely outrageous..."
An attorney for four news organizations, including the Times and the AP, filed a brief contending that just as jurors would be exposed to evidence, the house "should be treated like an extension of the courtroom."
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