The prosecution and defense agreed on one point: In court, Phil Spector is "Phillip" Spector.

Beyond that, the two sides were typically of a split mind as opening arguments began Wednesday in the Los Angeles murder trial of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame music producer.

Per prosecutor Alan Jackson, Spector is a man with a "very rich history of violence against women." Per defense attorney Bruce Cutler, Spector "was, and is, a true romantic of a bygone era."

Of no dispute was the matter at hand: Spector is charged with shooting to death B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in his castle-styled home in Alhambra, California, on Feb. 3, 2003. If convicted of second-degree murder, he could face 15 years to life in prison.

The 67-year-old cut a passive figure at the defense table, his blond bob cast downward, his arms at the sides of his cream suit. Through much of the day, he listened to Jackson lay out the prosecution's case.

Only in the afternoon did the pugnacious Cutler get to land some blows for his side.

Up first, Jackson didn't pull any punches himself: The defendant, he said, "put a loaded pistol inside Lana Clarkson's mouth—inside her mouth—and shot her to death."

If that wasn't blunt enough, Jackson offered up a crime-scene photo, showing in the words of Reuters, Clarkson "splayed in a chair...with her face and mouth covered in blood."

To hear Jackson tell it, the 40-year-old Clarkson was merely the latest and unluckiest female acquaintance to be threatened by a gun-waving Spector, a potentially "sinister" man who became violent when he drank too much.

"You're going to hear evidence about the defendant's history of violence...about his pattern of violence with women," Jackson said.

As expected, Jackson said five women from Spector's past would testify of frightening run-ins with the producer.

Jackson also previewed another key prosecution witness: Adriano De Souza, the limousine driver who was parked outside Spector's home on the night of the Clarkson shooting. De Souza told police he saw Spector exit the house, gun in hand, and heard him confess: "I think I killed somebody."

Getting in his swings, Cutler proceeded to bash police investigators, De Souza, and the ex-Spector women, or as he called them, the "other so-called victims."

"Not one of these women stopped seeing Phillip," Cutler said, "not one of these women prosecuted him."

Cutler derided De Souza as a man who couldn't have possibly heard or accurately reported what Spector said, what with the driver being half-asleep and "full of snacks and cookies" at the time.

Did Spector really say "I think I killed somebody," Cutler asked, or perhaps did he merely state, "I think somebody is killed?"

The biggest villains as portrayed by Cutler were police, who, according to the attorney, botched the case when they "made up their minds it was murder."

Like lawyer, like client, Cutler referred to Clarkson's death as an "accidental suicide," a phrase invoked by Spector in an email sent to friends just days after the shooting.

"The facts will show this was a tragic accident," Cutler said. "[The gun] was in her mouth, by her own hand, not Mr. Spector's."

Clarkson and Spector met only hours before her death—the former Barbarian Queen star was a hostess at the House of Blues nightclub on L.A. Sunset Strip; he was a patron.

When Cutler wasn't trashing the prosecution, he was praising Spector.

"This is a man whose music changed the world!" Cutler declared.

More than that, Cutler said, Spector was a giver.

"He extended himself to others," Cutler said. "He made a living for others...He was not a taker. He was a success, and a talent who gave to others."

Others, according to Cutler's recitation of Spector's clients, included "dear friend" John Lennon, George Harrison and the Rolling Stones. Cutler also mentioned the "prosecuted and persecuted" comic Lenny Bruce, but that apparently was part of a riff on how geniuses must suffer fools.

Spector, whose fame or lack thereof was the subject of pretrial hearings, is best known for building a so-called "Wall of Sound" around 1960s hits such as "He's a Rebel," "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."

Cutler is of the mind that Spector is famous—and that that's why he became a target.

"Being successful, accomplishing so much can come back to hurt you," Cutler said. "Fame and success comes back to haunt you."

Owing to gavel-to-gavel TV coverage of the trial, Spector may well be even more famous by the time the verdicts are in. Or then again, maybe he won't be. In Los Angeles, where local stations devoted weeks upon weeks of live coverage to the O.J. Simpson trial, only cable's Court TV stayed with Spector throughout the first day.

If not a TV draw yet, the trial was a must-see show for reporters, and members of Clarkson's family, who were said to have helped packed the courthouse seats. Louis Spector, one of Spector's sons, was spied by CourtTV.com.

Also in the courtroom: The newly assembled jury, consisting of eight men, three women and one (male) Dateline NBC producer.

Cutler is scheduled to wrap up his opening on Thursday.