Trigger Finger Still Uncertain in Spector Case

Thirty-four witnesses, not one of whom could conclude who fired the gun that killed Lana Clarkson.

Phil Spector's defense team put great emphasis on that fact Monday as it wrapped up its cross-examination of the prosecution's final witness, Los Angeles County Sheriff Department criminalist Lynne Herold.

Taking the stand for the fourth day, Herold testified that in none of her reports was she able to determine that Spector fired the fatal shot on Feb. 3, 2003, as the L.A. District Attorney's Office contends.

The defense is maintaining that Clarkson shot herself, becoming the victim of an "accidental suicide."

Before defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden's final question about pulling the trigger, however, the lawyer questioned Herold's conclusions regarding the blood spatter found at the scene, on the weapon, and on the jackets and pants Spector was wearing that evening. Judging by the bloodstains, it looked as if Spector could have been standing within two or three feet of Clarkson with his arms raised when she died, and that he may have tampered with the scene—wiping blood off the gun and Clarkson's face—before police arrived.

Today, though, Herold admitted that Spector could have been walking or running toward Clarkson when the gun was fired, rather than just standing in front of her.

But when Kenney-Baden compared this case with a scholarly study in which blood spatter was said to have traveled six feet in a suicide, Herold objected to the notion.

"There is no other case like this case," she said. "It is a unique case unto itself, as is each case."

Monday was also the first day that the prosecution brought up in open court the possibility that evidence may have been mishandled during the investigation.

Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson, using hypothetical terms, mentioned the allegation that forensics expert Henry Lee picked up a piece of broken acrylic fingernail from the hallway of Spector's home and failed to turn it over to prosecutors.

Jackson then asked Herold whether the absent object would have assisted her in determining who fired that gun.

"Maybe and maybe not," Herold replied. "You don't know if you don't have the object to examine whether it's important."

Then, in response to Kenney-Baden's persistent questioning about whether Herold consulted any the top forensic scientists, some of whom were in court today and might testify for the defense, Jackson quoted a book written by the defense's top blood spatter expert, in which he states that mist-like blood spatter (the type Herold said was found on Spector's jacket) only travels distances of up to three feet.

Meanwhile, before the jury was led into court today, the California Court of Appeals upheld L.A. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler's contempt ruling against former Spector lawyer Sara Caplan, who had refused to testify about supposedly seeing Lee pick up a flat, white object in Spector's foyer.

Caplan contends that it would violate her attorney-client privilege to testify for the prosecution. (Her testimony could also seriously damage Lee's credibility, and he is one of the defense's key witnesses. Lee has vehemently denied taking anything from the scene.)

Fidler ruled last week that Caplan was in contempt of court and ordered her to jail without bail, but stayed the sentence pending appeal. The appellate court's ruling now clears the way for the Beverly Hills-based criminal attorney to take her case to the state Supreme Court.

The defense could start calling witnesses as early as tomorrow, Fidler said, although the prosecution will not officially rest its case until the Caplan matter is sorted out.