LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector’s often-absent lead lawyer, Bruce Cutler, announced yesterday that he is leaving the music producer’s murder case because of “a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy.”

Mr. Cutler made the announcement as the trial resumed for what was expected to be the last day of testimony. It wasn’t immediately clear if he quit or if Mr. Spector fired him.

Mr. Cutler had been absent from the trial for weeks so he could appear on a syndicated TV show. He told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler that he was prepared to return and do the closing arguments for Mr. Spector, but now, Mr. Cutler said, “there’s nothing I can do for Mr. Spector. I can no longer effectively represent him.” The judge asked Mr. Spector if everything that Mr. Cutler said was accurate.

“That is correct,” Mr. Spector answered in a raspy voice. A defense attorney, Roger Rosen, has stepped in as lead lawyer. Mr. Spector, 67, is charged with killing an actress, Lana Clarkson, in his Alhambra mansion on February 3, 2003, a few hours after she went home with him from her job as a nightclub hostess. The defense maintains that Clarkson, 40, was depressed and shot herself. Final arguments are set for September 5.