Expert Witness

At Phil Spector's murder trial last week, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson flatly dismissed the testimony of a series of experts for the defense, calling them "pay-to-say" witnesses who received more than $400,000 in return for doing just what was expected of them. "How does a homicide become a suicide? You write a big, fat check," Jackson told jurors. "If you can't change the science, you buy the scientist." That's a standard argument in courtrooms across America.

In his closing argument last week in the murder trial of pop music legend Phil Spector, prosecutor Alan Jackson encouraged jurors to ignore the experts who testified for the defense because, he said, "if you hire enough lawyers who hire enough experts who are paid enough money, you can get them to say anything." He went on to inform the jury that "Phil Spector thinks if he throws enough money at a problem, he can solve the problem."

Phil Spector's murder defense began three months ago with a vow by attorney Linda Kenney Baden to produce an "unimpeachable witness" with "no motive to lie for or against any person." The witness would have "no memory problems ... no language problems," she told the jury. "That witness," she said, "is called science." But now, with the defense case all but completed, its science experts have proved as open to attack as any other witnesses.

It is uncertain whether Phil Spector was drunk the night he allegedly murdered actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra mansion, an expert witness testified in the famous record producer's murder trial Tuesday. Robert A. Middleberg, a forensic toxicologist hired by Spector's defense team, said tests of Spector's urine taken the morning of Feb. 3, 2003, hours after Clarkson was found shot through the mouth in Spector's home, were unreliable. Prosecutors contend that a drunk Spector shot Clarkson.

The controversy over missing evidence in the Phil Spector murder case intensified Thursday, when the trial judge ruled he will hold a former Spector defense attorney in contempt if she continues to refuse to testify before the jury. But Judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed Sara Caplan's attorneys time to work out a compromise with prosecutors. The lawyers will return Monday morning to report on whether they have struck a deal.

Testimony in the murder trial of music producer Phil Spector was postponed again Tuesday as lawyers prepared for legal battles over expert witnesses. Continued medical problems for noted defense lawyer Bruce Cutler prompted the latest delay, which court officials said would push testimony back until Monday of next week. Cutler, whose health issues forced cancellation of Monday's court session, has said he has been experiencing problems with his diabetes medication.

Two expert witnesses testified Monday that the city of Anaheim lost virtually no revenue from the team's name change to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Earlier in the Orange County Superior Court trial, Laren Ukman, an expert witness for the city, said the name change could cost the city of Anaheim as much as $373 million worth of lost national media exposure on sports websites, scoreboards and graphics on major league broadcasts.

Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist will not be allowed to testify on behalf of the city of Anaheim, a trial judge ruled Wednesday. In analyzing the effect of the Angels' name change, Zimbalist calculated the city had foregone $138.5 million by signing a long-term lease with the team rather than demolishing the stadium, selling the land and reaping taxes from property development.

Walt Disney Co. had "a lot of good reasons" to fire Michael Ovitz from his job as president, but none were good enough to justify a for-cause firing, an expert for the company's board of directors testified Friday. California employment lawyer John Fox is expected to be one of the last witnesses in the trial of a shareholder lawsuit challenging Disney's 1996 decision to terminate Ovitz with a severance package that plaintiffs' lawyers value at $140 million.