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Phil Spector Won't Appear At Civil Trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An attorney for Phil Spector says the record producer won't be transported from prison to testify that he is entitled to recoup part of a $1 million retainer paid to attorney Robert Shapiro.

Lawyer Michael Dempsey says California prison officials told him they won't take the "Wall of Sound" producer to a Los Angeles courtroom for a civil trial scheduled to begin March 7.

Spector sued Shapiro in December 2007, claiming the former member of O.J. Simpson's defense team took advantage of him after he was arrested in 2003 for shooting a woman at his mansion.

After two trials, Spector was convicted of second-degree murder.

Shapiro's attorneys want to directly cross-examine Spector.

Dempsey says the jury will have to rely on a videotaped deposition instead.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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