US:After slogging through dense, technical details for hours, a key defence witness has maintained that Lana Clarkson died from a self-inflicted gunshot through the mouth while in the mansion of record producer Phil Spector.
Forensics expert Dr Werner Spitz testified on Wednesday that it was almost certain that Clarkson had killed herself, and he pressed the major points the defence has been hoping to impress on the jury. The defence contends that Clarkson, who reportedly was depressed, accidentally shot herself and that Spector was more than 1m (3ft) away - too far to have forced the gun into her mouth.
"In my opinion . . . most likely this is a self-inflicted wound," Dr Spitz said of the gunshot that killed the actress. "I'd probably call it a suicide."
Dr Spitz is the latest in a series of celebrity scientists to take the stand on behalf of Spector, now 67, who is charged with shooting Clarkson (40) in the mouth during the early hours of February 3rd, 2003, at his Alhambra home.
Dr Spitz, a forensic pathologist, described examining records and physical evidence before reaching his conclusion, which is at sharp odds with medical examiner Dr Louis Pena's finding that Clarkson's death was homicide. "I disagree with his opinion . . . I think it was an opinion without due consideration," Dr Spitz said of Dr Pena's findings. "And you're paid a lot of money for that opinion," deputy district attorney Alan Jackson said in his opening salvo. "How much money?"
Dr Spitz said that he was paid $5,000 (€3,600) a day by Spector. He has already billed the defence for more than $45,000. He added tests showed that she had been drinking and taking the painkiller Vicodin, or hydrocodone, which could have impaired her judgment.