A panel of California appeals judges have upheld Phil Spector's murder conviction, insisting the record producer received a fair trial.

They unanimously rejected an appeal of his 2009 murder conviction on Monday.

After a mistrial, Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life behind bars for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

The producer's lawyers had claimed that photos of the trial judge used in the prosecution's closing argument had turned the court into a government witness.

In the appellate panel's decision, Judge Joan Klein ruled that the photos only demonstrated Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler clarifying the testimony of a forensic witness.