Music producer Phil Spector pleaded not guilty to a murder charge yesterday. His case has not garnered the attention that Michael Jackson's has, but it promises to be an interesting one. Spector is accused of shooting a woman to death at his home. He says the woman shot herself. After a nine month investigation, the Sheriff's department decided it was a murder.

His media-savvy celebrity attorney, Robert Shapiro, who defended O.J. Simpson against a charge of murdering his ex-wife and her lover, said Spector was innocent and said he was gathering a forensic team to prove it.

``We have assembled a team of scientific experts, which is among the most respected and prestigious in the world,'' he said in a statement. ``Based on this team's findings of this horrible human event, any jury will conclude that Phil Spector is not guilty. We will prevail.''

It's interesting that so many of the current crop of high profile criminal cases are in California--Scott Peterson, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson, Phil Spector. Forensics are likely to play a major role in the Peterson, Blake and Spector cases, which significantly ups the costs. Given the state's budget woes, we wonder how it will be able to pay for so many expensive prosecutions in one year.