Phil Spector's fight to clear his name has ended. The US supreme court yesterday declined to hear an appeal against the legendary music producer's murder conviction in 2009. The court let stand a California appeals court ruling last May that upheld Spector's conviction for the murder of Lana Clarkson in 2003. The court offered no comment on the case.

Spector's attorneys had previously claimed his constitutional right to due process was violated when a trial judge responded to remarks by an expert witness. They argued that this had in effect transformed the judge into a witness for the prosecution.

Spector, 72, is serving a 19-year sentence for the second-degree murder of Clarkson, an actor and waitress. He was sentenced for shooting Clarkson at his home in Los Angeles in 2003, although he claimed she "kissed the gun" and "killed herself".

Earlier this month, Spector resolved a civil suit with the victim's mother. Donna Clarkson's lawyer said she was "pleased and relieved" after Spector signed off the settlement. Details of the deal were not revealed.

Spector – who called himself the "tycoon of teen" – was one of the most important producers in pop in the early 1960s, thanks to his Wall of Sound recording technique, which he deployed on hits by the Crystals, the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, Darlene Love and more. He later worked with the Beatles, as well as on solo records by John Lennon and George Harrison, and produced Leonard Cohen and the Ramones.