LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector’s defence attorney told a jury in closing arguments Tuesday that scientific evidence proves actress Lana Clarkson pulled the trigger of the gun that killed her in the music producer’s mansion six years ago.
On a large courtroom screen, attorney Doron Weinberg listed 14 points of forensic evidence, including blood spatter, gunshot residue and DNA, that he said were proof of a self-inflicted wound.
He urged jurors to ignore the prosecution’s efforts to paint Spector as a bad man with a violent history, saying prosecutors told a story while the defence told the facts.
The second-degree murder case is expected to go to the jury today.
“Every single fact says this is a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Weinberg said.
“How do you ignore it? How do you say this could have been a homicide?”
His argument came a day after a prosecutor denounced Spector as a “demonic maniac” with a history of threatening women with guns. Weinberg had moved for a mistrial Monday, saying prosecutor Truc Do was trying to convict Spector with character evidence rather than facts.
“If you knew only what the case looks like from the outside, you’d say it sure looks like he did it,” Weinberg said.
“If you believe (his chauffeur), you’d probably fold your arms and say, ‘Looks like he did it.”’ The chauffeur testified Spector came out of his house and said, “I think I killed somebody.”
But Weinberg said he trusted jurors to examine evidence presented to them in a retrial that has lasted nearly six months and to reach a different conclusion.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Spector could face 15 years to life in prison.
The jury may also consider involuntary manslaughter, which carries a penalty of two to four years behind bars.