LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The retrial for Phil Spector, accused of killing a former actress in his Los Angeles mansion more than five years ago, opened Wednesday with prosecutors telling jurors they would discover the violent nature of the legendary music producer.

"Before the close of this case you'll be introduced to the real Philip Spector," District Attorney Alan Jackson said in his opening statement in a Los Angeles court.

Spector, 68, avoided conviction last year after a six-month trial ended with a jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of finding him guilty.

Because a unanimous decision was required for a conviction, prosecutors decided to launch a new trial against Spector, maintaining his involvement in the case of Lana Clarkson, found dead in the foyer of the fabled producer's home in the early hours of February 3, 2003.

The new trial, expected to last three to four months, opened with Jackson telling jurors that Spector was in a "petulant fit of rage" when Clarkson tried to leave his Alhambra mansion in 2003.

The two had met hours earlier in a Hollywood nightclub where Clarkson worked.

In his opening statement Jackson showed jurors a photograph of Clarkson slumped over dead in Spector's home, blood coming from her mouth.

"This is how he left her," Jackson told the seven-man, five-woman jury.

"Before he was through with her, he put a bullet in her head."

Spector has maintained his innocence, and said the 40-year-old, best-known for her role in Roger Corman's 1985 cult classic "The Barbarian Queen" but whose career had stalled at the time of her death, committed suicide in the entrance hall to his mansion.

Prosecutors told jurors they would hear testimony from Adriano De Souza, Spector's driver that night, who is expected to tell how he heard the gunshot and saw Spector emerge from his home holding a gun.

Spector then confessed to the killing, telling De Souza: "I think I just killed somebody."

In the first trial, prosecutors outlined a pattern of Spector threatening women with guns, and to again outline Spector's aggression Jackson told jurors Wednesday they would hear testimony from Melissa Grosvenor, who dated Spector in the early 1990s.

Grosvenor will tell jurors that when she once tried to leave Spector's home he pointed a gun at her face and said, "If you try to leave me, I'm going to kill you."

Spector faces a minimum 15 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of second degree murder.

The eccentric music genius is regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. In the early 1960s he was responsible for hits including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin.'"

He is famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones.