A day after prosecutors tagged him a "sinister, deadly" murderer, Phil Spector's lawyers fought back Thursday, contending that police railroaded Spector and that scientific evidence proves actress Lana Clarkson shot herself through the mouth.
The legendary producer of songs for the Beatles, Ike and Tina Turner, and the Righteous Brothers is on trial for allegedly murdering Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion Feb. 3, 2003. He has pleaded not guilty and has been free on $1-million bail.
Wrapping up their opening statements, Spector's lawyers hammered their point that police were bent on pinning the death on their client.
"Murder on their mind!" one of the attorneys, Bruce Cutler, bellowed seven times Thursday morning, punctuating the slogan with thrusts of his fists.
Cutler told jurors of detectives hot for a "high-profile" suspect with spiteful witnesses. "Keep in mind a case can be rehearsed, scripted and choreographed," he said of anticipated testimony from women who will say Spector threatened them with guns.
Spector occasionally smiled as his lawyers spoke, but for much of the morning he stared blankly away from the attorneys and jury. By afternoon the first witness, one of the women scheduled to speak of the alleged threats, had testified.
Cutler's barrage against the police and prosecution witnesses was followed by attorney Linda Kenney Baden's attempt at surgical strikes using scientific evidence.
Unlike people testifying against Spector, Kenney Baden calmly told the jury, science "has no motive to lie, no memory problems, no language problems."
She laid out 10 points she said proved that Clarkson shot herself, based on the position of the gun, the small amount of blood and gunshot residue on Spector, and evidence that Clarkson loaded the gun.
Kenney Baden said the gun was fired inside Clarkson's mouth, causing tooth fragments, blood and tissue to spray outward. Several times, she swung her hands from her mouth outward toward the jury to show the path.
She said the blood spots sprayed on Clarkson's clothes were more numerous and much closer together than the few that landed on Spector's jacket, proving that he was not next to her.
Kenney Baden grabbed fellow defense attorney Christopher Plourd's shirt cuff and held his wrist in the air. "There was no spatter on his pants. There was none on his shoes. If he was standing close enough to put the gun all the way in her mouth and pull the trigger
