By Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times
March 21, 2013, 6:00 a.m.

Are you planning to watch HBO's "Phil Spector"? Then step into my cubicle. We need to talk.
How moronic. 
I'm just a reporter, so my opinions about film aesthetics don't add up to much, but as one of the only journalists to cover both of Spector's murder trials, I can tell you that this movie, which premieres Sunday, is a bomb factually.
Ryan's opinions on forensic science really don't add up to much.  Was Ryan one of the only journalists to cover both of Spector's murder trials?  The LA Times is a bomb factually.  
And in an era when millions depend on "The Daily Show" for their news and best picture nominees for their history lessons, that scares me. Most viewers will know very little about the Spector case, and when the program is over, their understanding will be deeply flawed. Except they won't realize that.
Actually, I like to get my news from Robert MacMillan, Anderson Cooper, Rachel Madow,Glenn Greenwald, Bob Woodward, Kevin Sessums, Larry Rohter, Mick Brown, Jeremy Scahill, and other people who have a level of intelligence I appreciate.  
Of course, filmmakers — particularly one as talented as writer-director David Mamet — are entitled to artistic license. But the problem here is that the movie blends fact and fiction into a misinformation smoothie. Characters bear the actual names of participants, dialogue is lifted directly from trial transcripts, and Al Pacino nails Spector's shuffle and rasp. But when the movie jets off to the land of make believe — as it often does — there's no red flashing light to warn the audience."Wow," I can hear them saying as the credits roll. "I had no idea that Phil Spector was railroaded. Juries are so stupid. The entire justice system is a joke."
That's nice of shabby fictionwriter, Ryan, to note - that David Mamet is entitled to artistic license.  How utterly arrogant and pathetic.  It's interesting that Ryan has no idea that Phil Spector was railroaded.  She must not be an investigative journalist.  I suppose she thinks that juries are stupid and the justice system is a joke, particularly after the Phil Spector Show Trial. 
What's especially galling is that the film commits the very crime it condemns. "Phil Spector" argues that a famous eccentric can't get a fair trial because the bloodthirsty, ignorant public is willfully blind to the facts. But the movie supports its thesis by ignoring, misrepresenting and soft-pedaling the evidence.
Actually, I thought the prosecutors were blood thirsty and the public really didn't seem interested in the facts.  Good of Mamet to notice.  Actually, the prosecutors ignored and misrepresented the evidence and the LA Times just regurgitated it recklessly.  
For those of you who didn't spend the better part of a year in a windowless courtroom with Spector, a quick refresher: On Feb. 3, 2003, Spector met a struggling actress named Lana Clarkson at the Sunset Strip club where she worked as a hostess. They repaired to his Alhambra mansion, where two hours later, she was shot in the mouth as she sat in a chair by the front door.
On February 3, 2003, Lana Clarkson shot herself to death at Phil Spector's house.  
After he was arrested on suspicion of murder, Spector claimed Clarkson killed herself. The first jury to hear the case deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of guilt. A second jury convicted him in 2009.
Well, that's the short version of events and leaves out Judge Larry Fidler's mind bogglingly astounding jury instructions that he was ultimately forced to withdraw, having changed the jurors minds however.  
In the film, we are told repeatedly and emphatically that there is no evidence Spector pulled the trigger.
Factual.  
"They have no facts!" insists defense lawyer Linda Kenney Baden. It's as plain as Spector's white dinner jacket, the movie says. If he had shot her, we are informed again and again and again, the snowy fabric would be drenched in blood.
Snowy?  As in a white jacket that should have been drenched in blood and tissue had Phil Spector actually pulled the trigger.  
In fact, there was blood on Spector's jacket: Tiny mist-like spots near the lapel that, according to expert testimony, put Spector no more than three feet from Clarkson's face when the gun went off. The same type of blood mist was found on the outside of Clarkson's wrist, an indication, experts said, that at the time of the gunshot, her hands were up in a defensive posture and not on the trigger.
What experts?  This was a 6' 160 pound woman who could have drop kicked Phil Spector across the room.  
Then there's the chauffeur. Spector's driver testified that shortly after the gunshot, his boss walked out of the mansion holding a gun in his bloodied hand. "I think I killed somebody," he quoted Spector as saying. The film suggests that unethical police detectives forced the chauffeur to make this damning statement by threatening to charge him as an accessory.
The Brazilian driver who was in this country illegally, ultimately was granted a green card, and the man who perjured himself four times - according to the defense, in Immigration documents and changed his story eight times?  Most people in that position are deported, not awarded.  Why did DHS award this man with a green card?  Do they have it out for Phil Spector?  Did they simply believe he was guilty?  That question DEMANDS answers.  Sounds about right - unethical individuals in law enforcement and a willing accomplice.  
There's no evidence of this, and Spector's lawyers never alleged it at trial. Likely because the driver told the first patrolman on the scene about Spector's comment and never varied in a subsequent recorded interview with detectives.
Spector's lawyers were clear - DeSouza changed his story EIGHT TIMES.  It is fascinating that Ryan is unaware of this.  The driver did NOT tell 911, originally, that Phil Spector came out and said he thought he killed someone.  The driver TOLD 911 that he personally thought Phil Spector killed someone although he wasn't present and called Spector's assistant - who has stolen approximately $1 million from him - INSTEAD of 911 when he did not know if this woman was dead or alive.  That tells you all you need to know about the driver.  In any event, most jurors evidently didn't believe him.  
Five women testified, often through tears, that Spector had pulled guns on them when they tried to leave his house against his wishes. They were unshakable in their accounts of how alcohol and dashed romantic hopes turned an old-school gentleman into a monster. The movie rolls its eyes at them. Just common people looking for their 15 minutes, instead of treasuring their time with the genius.
Crocodile tears.  A number of these women sold their embellished stories to the news media; one lied and said Spector hit her with a gun - the police testified that no evidence supoprted that allegation - they were present ... and it just goes on and on.  No one in Phil Spector's life who actually knows him testified.  These women continued to see Phil Spector.  The only monsters I see in this story are these five so-called witnesses who were present and proved nothing except for the fact that they were opportunists more than willing to continue using the man.  I worked for Phil Spector, as his personal assistant, in 1988 and 1989. Diane Ogden, who has since died (of a drug overdose evidently) testified or stated that she had.  She was not Phil Spector's assistant at the time and Phil Spector, Janice Zavala Spector, various lawyers, etc. are well aware of this. I was present with Phil Spector at the Carlyle Hotel.  There was a woman, who had illegally gained access to his room, hiding in his bathtub/shower.  Phil Spector did not have a gun.  I believe, but am not certain, that Phillip and I met up with Jericho immediately following this incident.  It's also interesting that, while working for Machat & Machat, I would frequently speak to Devra Robaitaille who was dying to have Phillip produce her; appeared to adore him; and never once mentioned a gun.  I would assume Janice Zavala Spector has more details about her.  I heard, over the years, that women - some of whom took the stand - were caught going through Phllip and Janice's drawers, etc. and stealing.  The system works beautifully for the criminal.  See The Scientist, a famous Reggae producer, who has been targeted by gold diggers and witnessed a woman try to kill herself at his home.  She has also apparently assaulted Duck/Éek A Mouse and attempted to kill herself before a member of the band Fishbone.  Gun related suicides are rampant and drug abuse is a very serious matter, including prescription drug abuse.  Why the DA or the LA Times would glorify these issues is inconceivable.
Spector's defense claimed that Clarkson, 40, committed suicide because she was despondent over her prospects in Hollywood. The film ultimately embraces a second theory — that she accidentally shot herself while toying suggestively with the gun.
Well, Baby Doll Gibson has said that Clarkson was a prostitute and she was her Madam.  There is at least one witness who said Clarkson played kinky sex games with guns.  Of course, Fidler didn't want reality dirtied up and said should Gibson take the stand then Phil Spector would have to testify which is, of course, illegal and an outright outrageous breach of one's 5th Amendment rights.  Accidents happen when people are high on vicodin and mix it with tequilla, etc.  
What it doesn't mention is that Clarkson died with her purse strap on her shoulder. If that seems inconsequential to you, perhaps you are a man. Ladies, I ask you: Is shouldering a purse the gesture of a woman who intends to a) commit suicide; b) play a sex game; or c) leave?
I have no idea if Clarkson died with her purse strap on her shoulder or if that was later placed there.  I know this - it proves nothing and sounds like something a man came up with.  Who knows what kind of gesture it is.  What a preposterous argument.  LA Confidential is so much dumber than one can imagine.  
In anticipation of criticism, HBO has taken pains to describe the movie as a "mythological take" on the case.
Sure.  HBO is worried about criticism.  That sounds like a fantasy.  Sounds like it would create higher ratings.  
"This is a work of fiction," the disclaimer that opens the film reads. "It's not 'based on a true story.' It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome."
What a perfect companion piece to the Phil Spector Stalinesque Show Trials.  That also wasn't based on an actual person (Phil Spector) or evidence.  It was brought to you by LA Confidential and was based on rumors, gossip, slander, etc.  Harriet Ryan is as shameless as they come.  Thank goodness real journalists are writing about the railroading of Phil Spector.  I know how awestruck the LA Times is about Leonard Cohen who now has three versions of his good rock and roll story before LA Superior Court (one is currently concealed but I am sitting here with the email to the City Attorney's office) and have no interest in the fact that this man committed egregious tax fraud, concealed evidence before LA Superior Court, and lies through his teeth about many things but - in particular - Phil Spector.  I suppose that's why he was seen hanging out and lunching with a DA investigator although his testimony about the gun story totally undermines the prosecutor's version which is quite sick.