Jury selection for the murder retrial of Phil Spector got underway in LA, five years after the legendary music producer allegedly shot dead a blonde actress in his Los Angeles mansion.
Spector, the eccentric musical producer who created the famous "Wall of Sound" recording technique, avoided conviction after a marathon six-month trial last year that ended with a jury deadlocked 10-2 in favour of finding him guilty.
He stood in court with defence attorneys as around 40 prospective jurors were asked to complete questionnaires in the case.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler told potential jurors that he had made the decision that no one, including him, would know the prospective jurors' names.
"It's being done to protect your privacy, primarily from the media," he told the first group of potential panellists.
Seventy-five other prospective jurors were due in court later in the day, with another 150 expected by the weekend.
Questioning of jurors will take place at Los Angeles Superior Court from October 14 before opening statements later in the month.
Prosecutors are seeking to convict Spector of murdering actress Lana Clarkson, who was found dead in the foyer of the producer's home in the early hours of February 3, 2003.
At his first trial, prosecutors alleged that Spector, 68, shot Clarkson as she attempted to leave his home after meeting him for the first time only hours earlier at the Hollywood nightclub where she worked.
Defence lawyers said Clarkson, 40, best-known for her role in Roger Corman's 1985 cult classic The Barbarian Queen but whose career had stalled at the time of her death, killed herself.
Spector is regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. In the early 1960s he was responsible for hits including Da Doo Ron Ron, Be My Baby, Baby and You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.
Famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones, Spector faces a minimum 15 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of second degree murder.
