Musical Chairs: Spector Trial Edition

The Phil Spector trial is almost at its end, but Spector has nevertheless just added a lawyer to his legal team: San Francisco attorney Dennis Riordan.
Riordan comes on as Bruce Cutler departs, though presiding Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler took pains to clarify that Riordan is not replacing Cutler as lead counsel for Spector:

“I think that was a little bit of hyperbole,” Fidler said when asked by the prosecution if there was a new chief defense counsel.
“Mr. Rosen is the chief counsel, the one we rely on as I understand it,” Fidler said of attorney Roger Rosen, who effectively became leader of the defense while Cutler was often absent for several weeks to tape a TV judge show.
“Mr. Riordan is here to work on jury instructions,” Fidler said. He said Riordan would be considered a member of the defense team while assisting with jury instructions.
Riordan, asked if that was his understanding, replied: “As far as I know, ‘chief’ refers to a Native American. I am not chief counsel.”

[CNN]
Yeah, I guess it does, in that it’s a racist, derogatory term for a Native American. Could he not have settled for a simple “Yes, your Honor”? Jeez.
At any rate, since Riordan is known as an appellate lawyer, we suspect he’s ultimately there for more than the jury instructions.
As stated above, Cutler left because Spector wasn’t too happy with him missing so much of the trial, which he was apparently doing to film a TV judge show. Which will be better, his or Larry Seidlin’s?

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