The jury in the murder trial of Phil Spector last night said that they were unable to reach a verdict after twelve days of deliberations, forcing the judge to call a mistrial, and leaving the wildly eccentric music producer a free man for the foreseeable future.

The mistrial means that Spector, 67, a former producer of The Beatles best known for his “Wall of Sound” recording technique, could either face a retrial, or reach a plea agreement with Los Angeles prosecutors.

In the meantime he will remain free on $1 million (£496,000) bail. “We will try Phil Spector again,” Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office told The Los Angeles Times, adding that the prosecution team was “disappointed” by the result.

Nevertheless, analysts last night said that given Spector’s lack of a criminal record, and the circumstantial nature of the evidence in his alleged crime, a plea deal might be likely.

The second-degree murder charge against Spector came about after a B-movie actress called Lana Clarkson died from a point-black gunshot wound to the face between 3am and 5am on February 3, 2003 at Spector’s private “castle”.

Spector had met Ms Clarkson only hours earlier at the cocktail bar where she worked, the House of Blues. She was 41 when she died.

Spector infamously described the shooting as an accidental suicide – “she kissed the gun,” he told Esquire magazine – but did he not testify during his trial, and his defence team offered only suggestions, not an explanation, as to how Ms Clarkson had killed herself.

In court yesterday, Spector displayed no emotion as the judge asked each juror in turn: “It is your belief there is anything I can do further that has not yet been done to assist [you]?” Each of them replied “no”. The nine men and three women had been deliberating for a total of 41 hours over 12 days, eventually coming to a 10-2 deadlock. It is thought that the majority of jurors were in favour of a guilty verdict.

When the mistrial was called Alan Jackson, the chief prosecutor, leaned over to where Ms Clarkson’s mother, Donna, was sitting. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. Those seated inside the courtroom described him as red-faced and close to tears.

Outside the courtroom only a handful of jurors made comments to the media. “I was insulted by the defence,” one of them told The Los Angeles Times. Another added: “I thought it would be quick, a done deal, in and out. It wasn’t.” Asked why two jurors had held out for an acquittal, another juror explained that, “part of it was forensics, part of it Spector, and [him] not having had his hand on the gun”.

The juror added that the proSpector jurors were concerned by the coroner’s decision not to do a psychological profile of Ms Clarkson, which suggested that they might have thought she was suicidal.

Even before the trial began Spector was known to have a long history of drunken gunplay, several incidents of which had entered rock’n’roll folklore.

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