Marky Ramone believes Phil Spector was innocent.

The late producer was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison in 2009 after being found guilty of murdering Lana Clarkson at his Los Angeles home in 2003, but the 73-year-old drummer believed the version of events given to him by his friend, who died in prison from Covid-19 in 2021.

Marky told the i newspaper: "I'd go to his Christmas parties and hang out in LA...

"He told me the real story and everything that happened.

"It sounded like he was innocent, with all due respect to the actress, Lana Clarkson. But that's his story. Do I know if it's true or not? I don't know. I have to believe what he told me. Why would he lie to me?"

When it was noted Spector had been found guilty in court, Marky suggested LA authorities wanted a high-profile figure they could "make an example" of after footballer-turned-actor O.J. Simpson and actor Robert Blake were both found not guilty of the murders of their partners in criminal trials.

He said: "Well, justice prevailed, and that's the way it goes. In LA they didn't get OJ Simpson. They didn't get Robert Blake. They had, in my opinion, to get Phil to make an example."

The I Wanna be Sedated hitmaker first met Spector when recording the Ramones' fifth album End of a Century in 1980 and he admitted "there were a lot of disagreements" in the studio, though things didn't get too out of hand.

He said: "He did have his idiosyncrasies, and he was a perfectionist. And Johnny took it wrong. He took it personal. There were a lot of disagreements..

"[Spector] had guns with him. But he never pointed a gun at us in the studio."

did. Lana was my baby, I miss and cry for her every day."

Spector's first trial was declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict but a second ended with a conviction for second degree murder. Throughout both trials, Spector's defence suggested Lana had taken her own life after her acting career slumped.