MyFOXLA: Legendary music producer Phil Spector was sentenced today to 19 years to life in prison for killing actress and House of Blues VIP hostess Lana Clarkson in the foyer of his Alhambra mansion.

Spector, 69, was convicted of second-degree murder on April 13 for the Feb. 3, 2003, death of Clarkson.

Despite his conviction, Spector continued to maintain that the 40-year- old woman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His defense attorney, Doron Weinberg, wrote in court papers filed Wednesday that Spector insists "he did not kill Lana Clarkson, and he is not responsible for her death."

In his sentencing memorandum, Weinberg insisted that the evidence presented at trial "did not establish defendant's culpability for the murder of Lana Clarkson."

But Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson wrote in his sentencing memorandum that Clarkson "was the last in a series of victims to suffer homicidal assaults at the hands of Phil Spector. As this court heard during the trial, Spector has been pulling guns on women for decades."

Spector made no comment during the sentencing hearing.

Spector's sentence included the mandatory 15 years to life for the second-degree murder conviction and an additional four years for the use of a gun. Weinberg had asked that Spector receive 18 years to life.

Spector and Clarkson had met just hours earlier at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, where she had recently begun working as a VIP hostess.

Spector was charged on Nov. 20, 2003, with the murder, and then indicted in September 2004 on the same charge.

The first jury to hear the case deadlocked 10-2 in September 2007, with the majority voting in favor of convicting him of murder.

Spector is still facing a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Clarkson's family.

Spector, renowned in music circles for the "Wall of Sound" technique he developed in the 1960s and used in his work with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers and other groups, wrote or co-wrote such enduring hits as "Be My Baby" and "River Deep, Mountain High."

Clarkson, who was best known for her starring role in the 1985 Roger Corman cult hit "Barbarian Queen," had bit parts on dozens of television shows and in a few well-known movies, such as 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

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