Spector Witness Denies "Glaring Conflict"

Dr. Michael Baden maintains that his new theory concerning Lana Clarkson's death didn't just come out of nowhere. Nor did it arise out of loyalty to his wife.

The noted pathologist, who also happens to be the husband of defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, denied the prosecution's allegation Wednesday that he had tailored his testimony to suit his wife's argument, which is that Phil Spector did not shoot Lana Clarkson in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 2003.

Baden said on the stand Tuesday that, contrary to previous scientific testimony, Clarkson may not have died instantly from a gunshot wound to the mouth but instead could have lived for up to four minutes afterward. The doctor then said that the actress could have coughed blood onto Spector's jacket, the first time such a theory had been introduced in court.

Prosecution witnesses have testified that Spector had to have been standing two or three feet away from Clarkson, and therefore could have pulled the trigger, in order for that blood spatter to have reached his jacket in the manner it did. Meanwhile, the defense has stated that the famed music producer was standing at least six feet away, too far away to inflict the fatal wound.

After the subject was broached, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ushered the jury out of the courtroom and admonished the defense for making a "knowing, tactical decision" to not share Baden's opinion with the L.A. District Attorney's Office before the forensics expert took the stand.

Fidler refused to strike Baden's statements from the record but advised the defense to tread lightly.

Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson attempted to hammer his point home, however, accusing Baden of inventing his theory, which was that Clarkson's spinal cord was not severed on impact but during her body's transport to the morgue, to bolster his wife's case.

Baden called Jackson's version of events "completely untrue."

"And you just came up with this epiphany on Sunday," the prosecutor said.

"Yes," Baden replied, objecting to Jackson's use of the word "epiphany" and referring to his new findings, which were not included in the official report he authored in February, as his opinion.

"Your theory was created so it would help your wife, isn't that correct, Dr. Baden?" Jackson prodded.

"No," Baden answered.

The New York State Police's chief medical examiner also testified that he and Kenney Baden had previously decided that she would not be the one to handle the questioning if he took the stand, despite the fact that she has presided over much of the case's scientific testimony so far.

"And the reason your wife would never take you on direct is because the conflict would be so glaring," Jackson offered.

"No," Baden said, "it's because someone like you would make it appear dirty and it would harm the client."

Nor did he hold sway over any of the other expert witnesses who testified before him, Baden said.

"I didn't speak to them and I didn't speak to my wife about it…I'm a schlemiel compared to them," he added, to the courtroom's audible amusement. "We talked. But I would be presumptuous to tell them what to say."

His main interest, Baden said, was to see Spector get a fair trial, and to not cut corners in favor of the defense.

Courtroom observers also shared a good laugh when Jackson surmised that Baden would "probably be sleeping on the couch for several months" if he refused to assist his wife, a statement defense attorney Roger Rosen immediately objected to.

"Sustained, it calls for speculation," Fidler wryly agreed.