The twelve jurors in Phil Spector’s murder case will soon have to choose between two single options: second-degree murder and acquittal.

Music producer Phil Spector’s murder trial is coming to a close. It was more than four and a half years ago that actress Lana Clarkson was found dead in Spector’s Los Angeles mansion.

He was arrested on suspicion of having shot the actress and freed on $1 million bail. He has maintained through the years that he is innocent and a long-delayed trial commenced this year in April.

It is now nearing its denouement. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler ruled Wednesday that jurors would only be allowed to take into consideration two possibilities: either Spector placed the gun in Lana Clarkson’s mouth and fired, or the actress placed the gun herself and fired it.

In the first case, Spector would be guilty of second-degree murder and face a sentence of 15 years to life behind bars. In the second case, he would be declared innocent.

Jurors will not be allowed to consider any lesser charges against Spector, such as voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.

Fidler said the evidence presented in the courtroom supports only the above two situations. “I have been thinking for weeks now of alternatives,” Fidler told attorneys during a hearing to finalize legal instructions for the jury. “I don't see it.”

Spector’s defense team has alleged that Lana Clarkson, 40 at the time of her death, was despondent over her failing acting career, disillusioned about the movie business and worried about financial issues and thus shot herself.

She was working as a hostess in the VIP area of the Foundation Room at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. Lana Clarkson is best known for starring in the 1986 cult sci-fi movie “Barbarian Queen.”

Spector is well known in the music industry and has worked with major musicians; the Beatles, the Ronettes, Ike and Tina Turner and Sonny and Cher. Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He is famed for having created the “Wall of Sound” recording technique in the 1960s.

Closing arguments are set to begin Sept. 5 and will last two days.