LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Lawyers for Phil Spector urged jurors to acquit the music producer of murder here Thursday, insisting there was no scientific evidence linking him to the shooting death of a B-movie actress.
In a scathing rebuttal of the prosecution's closing statement, lawyer Linda Kenney-Baden said authorities wanted to convict Spector of murdering Lana Clarkson at his home in February, 2003 because he was a celebrity.
Police had rushed to the conclusion that Spector had murdered Clarkson when in fact the evidence indicated Clarkson was the person who had pulled the trigger, Kenney-Baden told jurors at Los Angeles Superior Court.
"They made up their institutional mind on day one that this must be a murder despite the clear scientific evidence that it was not," Kenney-Baden said. "They wanted this to be the first celebrity notch on their belt."
Kenney-Baden said the absence of gun-shot residue and blood spatter tissue from the sleeves of a jacket worn by Spector on the night of the killing showed he could not have shot Clarkson.
"Those sleeves by themselves prove Phillip is innocent," she said.
Blood and tissue had sprayed out of Clarkson's mouth "like a bazooka," Kenney-Baden added, saying Spector's jacket would have been covered with evidence had he been standing anywhere near Clarkson.
She also accused prosecutors of creating a "stage-show" trial marked by gimmicks and theatrics.
"The government want you to ignore the lack of scientific evidence, which is woeful in this case, and instead create a stage show in this court room where cute jokes, tall tales, theatrics, what ifs, possibilities, embellishments, speculation and salacious scandal fit only for gossip rags, replaces the lack of forensic evidence," Kenney-Baden said.
During the five-month trial, his defense team called a series of expert witnesses to testify that Spector could not have shot Clarkson, who prosecutors allege was shot dead by the 67-year-old in the foyer of his home.
Three high-profile forensic experts -- including Vincent DiMaio and Kenney-Baden's husband, Michael Baden -- have claimed that Spector was unlikely to have fired the shot that killed Clarkson.
District Attorney Alan Jackson poured scorn on their evidence during his closing statement on Wednesday.
"If you hire enough experts who are paid enough money, you can get them to say just about anything" Jackson said, noting that Spector's defense had spent about 200,000 dollars in expert witness fees.
Jackson said Spector had waged a "checkbook defense" and accused his lawyers of twisting and withholding evidence as well as "dragging Lana Clarkson through the mud."
He also noted that Kenney-Baden had initially told jurors that renowned criminalist Dr Henry Lee would testify that blood-spatter from Clarkson's mouth could have spurted up to 72 inches before hitting Spector's jacket, putting him too far away to have pulled the trigger.
However Lee had not appeared to testify, Jackson said. "If he'd agreed with that statement, you would have heard from him."
In fact the "true science" proved that Spector was standing within two feet of Clarkson when she was shot, Jackson said.
Spector, best known for creating the groundbreaking "Wall of Sound" recording technique, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in rock-pop music history.
Famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones, he faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second degree murder.
Kenney-Baden will complete the defense closing argument on Friday, which will be followed by a rebuttal from the prosecution.
Trial judge Larry Paul Fidler will then issue final instructions to the jurors before they begin deliberations.
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