No Mistrial for Spector, Just More Bloody Testimony

If you hit a bump on the road, you can't expect everyone around you to stop driving.

That's pretty much what the judge presiding over Phil Spector's murder trial told the famed music producer's defense attorneys Monday after they moved for a mistrial, saying that the judge has issued too many prejudicial rulings in the case.

The defense was "not even close to the grounds for a mistrial," said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler at the beginning of a day filled with more scientific testimony, this time from an L.A. County sheriff's criminalist.

Last week, Fidler warned former defense team member Sara Caplan that she had better be available to testify about what she observed forensics expert and possible defense witness Henry Lee doing at the scene of Lana Clarkson's death, or else face a contempt charge.

The L.A. District Attorney's Office has acused Lee of finding a piece of broken acryclic fingernail at the scene—which could indicate a struggle took place—and failed to turn it over to prosecutors.

Caplan testified a few weeks ago at an evidentiary hearing without the jury present that she saw Lee pick up a small, flat, white object with uneven edges from the hallway of Spector's Alhambra home, where the prosecution is contending Spector killed Clarkson with a gunshot wound to the mouth.

Meanwhile, the defense is maintaining that Clarkson was the victim of an "accidental suicide."
 
Caplan filed a motion Monday stating that testifying would violate her attorney-client privilege, despite the fact that she is no longer working for Spector. Fidler, who has already said that no such privilege exists in this case and that Caplan is making a mistake by refusing to testify, said that he'd wait until Thursday to rule whether to hold her in contempt.

In arguing for a mistrial, defense attorney Roger Rosen cited the number of rulings Fidler has made in this case so far, including the one in which the judge determined that Lee—one of the defense's key witnesses—had, in fact, picked something up in Spector's foyer (whether it was a bit of nail, he couldn't say) and failed to turn it over to the prosecution.

Lee, who is currently on a lecture tour abroad, has vehemently denied the accusation.

Rosen also cited the ongoing situation with Caplan, whose testimony could shed doubt on Lee's credibility, as well as some purported problems with a recent search warrant issued for Spector's home. "It is all of these issues together," Rosen said. "Because of all this, we feel Mr. Spector's rights were compromised."

Fidler didn't see it that way. "I don't see anything here that rises to the level of stopping this trial and starting again," he said.

The judge also opted to not take action against three possible defense witnesses, including Lee, who were accused of violating the court's instructions to refrain from speaking to the media, saying that he had not issued a formal gag order.

Kicking off the day's testimony was criminalist Steve Renteria, who founded the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's DNA program in 1994.

Renteria testified that he sprayed Luminol—a chemical used for detecting traces of blood—in the area around where Clarkson's body was found on the morning of Feb. 3, 2003.

Besides the obvious pools of blood underneath the chair where Clarkson's body was, he did not find any other blood in the hallway, Renteria said.

Deputy D.A. Alan Jackson asked whether the lack of blood on the walls and other areas indicated that someone was standing in front of Clarkson when she was shot.

"That would be one explanation, yes," Renteria said.

The scientist said that Clarkson's blood was also found on a door about five feet from her body, as well as on the handrail of a nearby staircase, adding that no one's DNA besides Clarkson's and Spector's was found at the scene.

Clarkson's DNA was also on the tips of the bullets found in the Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver that killed her and her genetic makeup matched small specks of blood found on a white jacket that that the prosecution is contending Spector was wearing when he allegedly shot the actress.

Renteria said that, while Spector's DNA was not found on the gun, it could have been hidden under Clarkson's blood.

"Just because Lana Clarkson was the sole donor, that doesn't mean that nobody else on Earth came in contact with those things?" Jackson asked.

"Correct," Renteria replied. "It all has to do with the amount of cells present."

During his cross-examination, defense attorney Christopher Plourd questioned whether Renteria had been thorough enough with the Luminol, suggesting that there could have been blood on the wall behind Clarkson after all.

"Is there any way the blood would be there but the Luminol didn't detect it?" Plourd asked.

"No," Renteria answered.