Phil Spector retrial late 2008

Phil Spector's retrial for the alleged 2003 murder of a B-movie actress will not be possible before September next year, a defense lawyer told a judge here Friday.

Lawyer Doron Weinberg, who replaced Spector's defense team shortly after his five-month court case ended in a hung jury in September, told Judge Larry Paul Fidler he would need several months to review thousands of court documents.

"I can only represent him if I have enough time to do so," Weinberg said during a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court.

Weinberg told the court he needed to study 10,000 pages of trial transcript, videotaped trial testimony of more than 70 witnesses and about 32 boxes of miscellaneous materials.

A hearing has been set for May 22 next year to determine when the retrial will take place.

Spector is accused of shooting dead actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion-like Los Angeles home in February 2003.

Prosecutors alleged Spector shot Clarkson, 40, as she attempted to leave his home after meeting him for the first time only hours earlier at the Hollywood nightclub where she worked.

Defense lawyers said Clarkson, 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 rock-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.'"