11:30 a.m.LOS ANGELES — The District Attorney’s office, rising to the defense of the judge who presided at the deadlocked Phil Spector murder trial, has asked the California Supreme Court to reject a defense motion to disqualify the judge from presiding over the second trial.

Spector, 69, a legendary rock music producer famed for his “Wall of Sound” recording technique, is accused of murdering former Napa County resident Lana Clarkson, 40, on Feb. 3, 2003, at his Alhambra mansion. Clarkson, best known for her role in “Barbarian Queen,” was working as a hostess at the House of Blues when she met Spector and went home with him.

In a 35-page brief filed Friday and released late Monday, head Deputy District Attorney Lael R. Rubin and Deputy District Attorney Phyllis C. Asayama said rulings during the trial by Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler were “scrupulously fair to the defendant.”

They also argued that the motion to remove Fidler was untimely and should have been filed during the trial.

“No actions by the court demonstrated bias and no claim of bias was ever made by counsel who were present during the proceedings,” said the brief.

Spector changed lawyers after the jury deadlocked last September. His new defense team is seeking to remove Fidler from the retrial on grounds that his rulings demonstrated bias against the defendant. No new trial date has been set.

The defense argued that Fidler’s rulings were designed to ensure Spector’s conviction, in part to counter media reports that a celebrity could not be convicted in a Los Angeles court.

Fidler denied the first motion to remove him. A subsequent appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeal was denied without hearing. The defense then went to the California Supreme Court, which asked for briefs on the issue.