Legal Commentary

Is Phil Spector Really Tweeting From Jail?

By Jeralyn

The Teddy Bears with Phil Spector (on right)

Phil Spector is still in the county jail, awaiting designation and transport to a state prison following his sentencing last week.

Reportedly, he's tweeting from jail. How? According to CNet's reporter, the warden allows a laptop and iPod.[More....]

However, because he is able to keep his laptop (as well as his iPod), Spector has taken to Twitter to express so many things about his time in jail, his feelings about music, and his disappearing wig. Oh, yes, and about his pet cockroach.

Anyone think it's really Phil Spector? Honestly, I can't tell. While I have no clients in jail with laptop computers, my clients all have access to jail computers to be able to review the discovery in their cases. These computers, supplied by the Court, have no internet capability. On the other hand, I had a client in 1993, from South Central LA, who was sentenced to 17 years in a crack and gun chase. He's been e-mailing me for a year or so trying to figure out if he can get the two-level crack cocaine guideline reduction implemented by the Sentencing Commission. It appears not, since he was sentenced as a career offender. But I enjoy exchanging legal updates with him and he seems to have access every day....which I suspect is in the prison library. He's been in now 14 years and never misses sending a Christmas card that always begins will well wishes for my son.

Anyway, I figure, if my client can e-mail from a federal maximum security prison, maybe it's not so crazy that a county jail inmate can tweet from a county jail. That might depend on the views of the individual warden.

So, Does LA allow inmates to have laptops and/or ipod with internet access, including Tweet? Any reporters want to track it down? Phil is in the Twin Towers facility in L.A.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).