US:The prosecution and the defence wrestled on Monday over the significance of inconsistencies in the testimony of the star witness in Phil Spector's murder trial.
Both sides homed in on Adriano DeSouza, the Brazilian driver who ferried Spector and friends to various restaurants and who was the only other person on the grounds of the music producer's Alhambra mansion, where Lana Clarkson's body was found on February 3rd, 2003.
In a gruelling cross-examination, defence lawyer Bradley Brunon succeeded in getting Mr DeSouza to admit he gave different versions of events when first questioned and in recent trial testimony. The prosecution insisted the inconsistencies were minor and caused by the interrogator.
A videotape of the questioning by authorities was played for the jury, despite defence objections.
Among the issues over which both sides sparred were: how drunk Mr DeSouza thought Spector was that morning; the impact of other sounds such as a water fountain; the driver's grasp of English; and whether he adjusted his testimony out of gratitude to the prosecution, which was helping him with immigration problems.
The issue that crystallised the battle was the fight over what Mr DeSouza told police Spector said as he left the house, holding a gun with blood on his hands. In his testimony, Mr DeSouza quoted Spector as saying: "I think I killed somebody," but Mr Brunon got Mr DeSouza to agree that he told police: "I think I shot somebody."
In his redirect, deputy district attorney Alan Jackson introduced a transcript of the interrogation that showed that Mr DeSouza repeatedly used "kill" - until an investigator used "shot" instead. He then began using shot, Mr Jackson said.
The prosecution is hoping that the jury will believe that regardless of the specific words, Mr DeSouza heard Spector confessing to killing Clarkson a few hours after they met at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Clarkson, an actress, was working as the hostess in the club's VIP area.
Mr Brunon again also queried whether Mr DeSouza's English is good enough for the quote to be accurate. He questioned him about the differences between what he said immediately after the death and his testimony last week.
"Why did you say, 'I think I shot somebody'?" Mr Brunon asked, reading from a transcript of what Mr DeSouza told investigators Spector said."If you know exactly what he [ Spector] said, why did you change that word?"
Mr DeSouza explained that the investigators were being friendly and trying to calm him, but Mr Brunon asked why that would make a difference in the statement.
With the fountain in the background and the excitement or stress, "could you have gotten those words wrong?" Mr Brunon asked. "No," Mr DeSouza said. "The words that I heard were clear." Mr Brunon showed transcripts where Mr DeSouza told investigators that he wasn't sure about the quote.