Clarkson’s blood found on Spector’s coat, pants
Drop by bloody drop, a criminalist identified Lana Clarkson’s blood on Phil Spector’s coat and pants Thursday, completing the circle of the murder case against the celebrity record producer that began nine weeks ago.
Lynne Herold, the prosecution’s final witness, testified that Spector was “within two to three feet” of Clarkson when she was shot. This contradicted defense arguments that Spector was too far away to have pulled the trigger on the gun that killed the aspiring actress four years ago.
Clarkson died in February 2003 in Spector’s Alhambra mansion, where she had accompanied the producer for a drink after her shift as a hostess at the House of Blues VIP lounge. The defense contends that Clarkson shot herself.
If he is convicted, Spector, 67, who helped create 1960s pop groups such as the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Righteous Brothers, faces life in prison. Spector told Esquire magazine: “She kissed the gun.” He also told police that the gun went off “accidentally.... It was a mistake.”
On Thursday afternoon, the defense began a tough cross-examination of Herold, which is expected to continue next week.
The criminalist had testified that blood on the murder weapon appeared to have been smeared. Defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden attacked Herold’s assertion that the smearing could have been a result of Spector placing the murder weapon in Clarkson’s hand.
Herold acknowledged that nothing was stated in her lab reports about that possibility.
“I cannot with 100% scientific certainty tell you what mechanism created that pattern. I can tell you there are several mechanisms that will give the end result of that appearance,” Herold said.
Kenney-Baden suggested that the smear could have been made by police who responded to the crime scene.
Herold told jurors she was aware a paramedic had touched Clarkson’s wrist “feeling for a pulse.” The criminalist also said Clarkson’s blood, which was found in recessed areas of the gun barrel, grip and sights, had been “moved or removed.”
“One possible mechanism” for wiping the gun could have been placing it in Spector’s pants pocket, Herold testified. Jurors also saw pictures of the pocket, inside-out, with Clarkson’s blood staining the white fabric.
The gun, a .38 Special Colt Cobra, was found by police under Clarkson’s body, which was slouched in a chair in Spector’s foyer.
Some observers saw Herold as quiet, unhurried, unflappable and authoritative. But others said jurors might think her deliberate manner might have indicated she was rehearsing her answers too much.
Despite the gruesome exhibits and blood-drenched testimony, there were two light moments during the day’s court session. One came when Kenney-Baden suggested that officers might have tracked evidence across the crime scene because they weren’t wearing plastic “booties.”
Herold replied that booties could have transferred crime scene debris as surely as shoes.
“There are always transfers. And your point is?” Herold asked pointedly, drawing open laughter from the jury.
Earlier, prosecutor Alan Jackson asked Herold, who holds a doctorate in biosciences, to review her professional credentials.
She mentioned she won an award for best professional paper one year -- or more precisely, she corrected herself, she shared first-place honors.
“I tied for first place with myself because I submitted two papers,” Herold said, provoking more laughter from jurors and spectators, and a smile from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler.