When Spector Drinks he “becomes a lunatic,” she says
By Melissa Gentry

Spector in white suit

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/27/07 — Prosecution of music producer Phil Spector rocked on today, bringing out the witnesses from Phil’s past who say they experienced the same kind of incident that Lana Clarkson did.

The first woman to take the stand was Dorothy Melvin who stated that Phil Spector back in 1993 pistol-whipped her twice ordering her at gunpoint to take off her clothes. “I was sobbing. I said to him, ‘Why are you doing this?’” she testified. Melvin gave a dramatic performance of what her night of horror entailed with Mr. Spector, mimicking his deep, angry voice and her panicked cries for help.

Dorothy Melvin, former manager for Joan Rivers, told jurors today that this violence began after Spector had consumed most of a fifth of vodka after which he veered into a rage-filled state which she referred to as, “Phil mode.” She went on to say, “Phil is a very brilliant and charming man, and you really enjoy him when he is in his charming mode, but when he drinks he snaps and he turns on a dime and becomes a lunatic.”

After Melvin escaped Spector she called the police to ask them if they would recover her purse from his house. Although the police asked her if she wanted to press charges since she was entitled to, walking away with a small cut and two welts on her head, she chose not to because she did not want to deal with the tabloids. She went on to say, “I didn’t want it to become a ‘National Enquirer’ cover.” After this incident Melvin said she refused to see Spector alone again, “I didn’t know if he would turn again.”

Melvin also revealed another side of Spector and how charming he could be, as when she began to tell the story of the horrendous affair she described it as, “a lovely evening.” She said they danced together, shot pool, looked at his music memorabilia collection, which also included a guitar of John Lennon’s; But there was one scene that she couldn’t seem to get out of her mind, “The most vivid scene is him at the piano with a fifth of vodka.”

She said that she did not drink that night, but Spector was taking swigs straight from the bottle. As the evening grew late Dorothy drifted off asleep on the living room couch and when she awoke in the middle of the night, she noticed that the vodka bottle was drained down to about thee inches from the bottom and Spector was no where to be found. Eventually she found him outside, “He was standing there pointing a handgun at my brand new little green Mercedes, stretching out both arm and clasping her hands so her index finger was in the shape of a gun.

Melvin, who was no stranger to guns, as she frequented a gun range in Beverly Hills, recognized that the handgun was a snub-nose revolver. “He looked over his shoulder and screamed at me to get the ‘f’ back in the house,” She said she “stood her ground” and yelled right back at him. She then testified that he backhanded her with his hand holding the pistol. “At that point I knew I was in trouble.” She then went back into the house, crying.

She claimed that Spector said he had been looking all over the house for her, and she was puzzled because she had been plain in sight asleep on his white couch. He then started accusing her of stealing memorabilia and began going through her purse while keeping the pistol on her. After which he ordered her to undress and go upstairs. After she refused, he hit her again with the gun. “Then I hit real terror and I took off my jacket.” Deputy District Attorney Patrick Dixon asked her if she was still crying at that point. She replied, “I never stopped crying.”

Quickly she said she grabbed her keys and ran to her car. She got to the end of the driveway as the security gates began to close. She said she began to weigh out her next move as she heard footsteps running toward her. “I saw Phil coming down the driveway and I heard the pump of the shotgun. He was screaming, ‘I told you to get the ‘f’ out of here,’ and I was screaming and crying, ‘The gate won’t open! The gate won’t open!’” She then said that Spector seemed to snap out of his rage and he quickly ran back into the house and opened the gate. Dr. Jeckal/Mr. Hyde?

On cross-examination Melvin acknowledged that she and Spector continued to keep in contact after the incident. She said the communication continued up until she was questioned by homicide investigators working on the Clarkson case. She went on to admit that she took his daughter out to dinner on a visit to New York and received postcards from Spector occasionally, which she kept. Defense attorney Roger Rosen displayed a half-dozen postcards most of which were signed “Love, Phillip.” Melvin also said that they sometimes exchanged e-mails, and Rosen seized on a joke she had emailed to Spector only two weeks before the murder.

The joke was read in court, an old one that goes like this: A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral. A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service. Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.At that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter. When all eyes stared at him, he said, “I’m sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral…I’m a gynecologist.” The proctologist fainted.

Melvin claimed that she could not remember sending that message. “And I don’t get it either,” she said, receiving laughter.

Throughout her testimony today she often showed a compassion for Spector. Prosecutors showed a snapshot of the couple smiling at a Christmas party thrown by Rivers. She expressed to the jurors that she was flattered that Spector took an interest in her after meeting her at a jazz club. “I’m a child of the ‘50s and ‘60s, and I was always a fan of his music,” she said.

The trial will proceed on Monday morning, and is expected to last two months.

Prosecutors see a pattern in Spector that directly relates to the death of Clarkson, as he has on more than one occasion threatened women with firearms when under the influence of alcohol, in addition to whatever other psychiatric medications he was on at the time.

The night Lana Clarkson died Spector had been drinking heavily. She was found seated on a chair in his foyer with one single gunshot in her mouth with her purse still hanging on her shoulder. Spector’s defense continues to say she shot herself in an “accidental suicide.”

And as good as the prosecution’s case may sound, observers note the defense will present strong forensic evidence and the high-profile case could swing either way.