LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler has ruled that the murder trial of music producer Phil Spector may be televised.
Spector is scheduled to go on trial March 19 for the 2003 slaying of actress Lana Clarkson at Spector's Alhambra, Calif., home, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Spector's would be the first celebrity trial to be televised in Los Angeles since O.J. Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Spector pleaded not guilty and has been free on bail since 2003.
Critics of televising the trial -- including Spector's lawyer, Roger Rosen, say the presence of cameras at Simpson's trial affected the behavior of witnesses, lawyers and the judge.
Rosen said "everybody behaves differently, acts differently" when cameras are present.
"A rainbow of problems develop," he said.
Fidler said he believes the cameras would dispel any preconceptions that celebrities get special treatment.
"I don't think it does happen, but that is the public perception," he said.
