Former Spector lawyer refuses to testify

She faces a contempt charge for not taking the stand to describe what she saw during a search of the crime scene.

attorney Sara Caplan

By Michael Muskal
Times Staff Writer

4:09 PM PDT, June 6, 2007

A former lawyer for Phil Spector could be cited for contempt after she refused to testify today about what she saw during a search of the music producer's home, where actress Lana Clarkson died.

Sara Caplan, who is no longer part of Spector's defense team, has testified at an evidentiary hearing that she saw a key defense witness take what the prosecution maintains is an important piece of evidence: part of Clarkson's acrylic fingernail.

Caplan and Spector's lawyers insist that she is covered by lawyer-client privilege, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler previously rejected that argument and was adamant today that he would cite Caplan for contempt if she refused to take the stand.

"My sense of justice is not only to Mr. Spector … but also to Miss Clarkson and to justice herself," Fidler said.

"She went to a scene and said she saw [someone] manipulate, conceal or destroy evidence. There is no privilege not to testify," he said.

Fidler asked the prosecution to continue with another witness. He said he would resume with Caplan on Monday.

"I never in my life thought I would be in a situation like this," Caplan said, who appeared before the judge. She called her situation unprecedented.

The jury was not present, but the issue has been percolating for weeks as the prosecution and defense have argued outside the presence of the nine-man, three-woman panel.

With Caplan scheduled to take the stand in the afternoon, the defense revived the issue after lunch. Defense lawyer Roger J. Rosen told Fidler that Spector intended to invoke the lawyer-client privilege to prevent Caplan from testifying.

Caplan has said that she saw forensic scientist Henry C. Lee pick up a tiny white object at Spector's Alhambra mansion in a search by the defense team a day after Clarkson's body was found Feb. 3, 2003. Fidler ruled that Caplan was more credible than Lee and granted the prosecution's request that she testify.

The prosecution says the object is a piece of acrylic fingernail that broke off when Clarkson was trying to prevent Spector from shooting her. Defense lawyers and Lee deny the object exists and say Clarkson accidentally shot herself.

Caplan's testimony is key for the prosecution in order to establish what may have happened that morning. But it is also important because her testimony would undermine Lee, an expert with a worldwide reputation for testifying at famous murder trials, including O.J. Simpson's.

Spector's defense lawyers have said they will rely on scientific experts, particularly Lee, to counter the prosecution's case.

Earlier, the sheriff's detective who supervised the search of Spector's home ended his testimony, hinting he had thought Clarkson's death had sexual overtones.

Det. Mark Lillienfeld spent almost two days on the stand. He identified the .38-caliber Colt Cobra used in Clarkson's death and described how evidence was gathered.

In tough cross-examination, defense attorney Bradley Brunon asked whether investigators wore booties and hairnets to avoid contaminating the scene. Lillienfeld said no such gear was used but that detectives wore gloves.

The prosecution maintains the gun belonged to Spector, but its ownership has never been acknowledged by the defense, leaving the door open for Spector's team to argue it may have belonged to Clarkson.

In his testimony, Lillienfeld said the gun was found under Clarkson and fit into a holster in a chest of drawers. He also said 12 weapons were found, including another handgun and a shotgun.

In addition to the weapons, investigators found stomach medicine and Viagra in Spector's briefcase. Lillienfeld said he confiscated the medications.

"I thought at that time, as I do today, that this murder had sexual overtones to it and that the Viagra would prove or disprove certain facts," Lillienfeld said today.

Under questioning from Deputy Dist. Atty. Pat Dixon, Lillienfeld said he based his theory of a sex-related crime on the atmosphere.

"The home was dark. There were candles lit on the fireplace. There was alcohol out in front of the fireplace on a coffee table," he said. A brandy snifter was found at the scene, along with part of a bottle of ginger ale.

"All those facts in my mind played into a sexually motivated murder, and the Viagra was a piece of evidence that would perhaps prove later on to be important," Lillienfeld said.

But Brunon immediately attacked any sexual implications.

"Do you have any evidence whatsoever that Mr. Spector took Viagra that night?" Brunon asked.

"I do not," the detective said.

"You didn't find any tears or rips associated with someone tearing at her or pawing at her?" Brunon asked

"I did not," said Lillienfeld.

Lillienfeld said he did not know if any test was performed on Spector's blood to determine if he had used Viagra. He also said he did not know the results of any test involving a rape kit. Jurors have already been told the test was negative.