Judge says Spector team knowingly broke evidence rules

Phil Spector
By Peter Y. Hong
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

2:19 PM PDT, August 14, 2007

The judge in the Phil Spector murder trial ruled today that the defense violated evidence rules by presenting surprise testimony that Lana Clarkson did not immediately die after she was shot at the record producer's Alhambra mansion four years ago.

"There is a deliberate, knowing violation of discovery," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said, citing the law that requires attorneys to preview trial evidence for their opponents, so the other side has a fair chance at rebuttal.

The defense's violation involves a dramatic revelation in court today by forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who said scientific evidence indicated that Clarkson lived for several minutes after she was shot.

Clarkson, a 40-year-old actress, was found dead in Spector's home on Feb. 3, 2003. She had been shot by a revolver fired in her mouth. Spector has been charged with second-degree murder; his attorneys claim she shot herself.

Baden testified that Clarkson's lungs swelled to three times their normal weight after filling with blood and other body fluids. The volume of fluid shows she lived for several minutes, he said, rather than dying instantly when her spine was severed by the bullet, as the autopsy report states.

Baden's assertion that Clarkson lived for several minutes could explain the presence of her blood on Spector's jacket, which prosecutors contend sprayed on the producer when he fired the gun. It could support the defense's argument that Spector rendered aid to Clarkson after she shot herself and that she coughed up blood.

With jurors cleared from the courtroom, prosecutor Alan Jackson said the defense had "sandbagged and blindsided" him by not giving him notice that they would present such testimony. Jackson heatedly questioned Baden, at one point stopping himself to calm down.

Jackson asked why Baden, who was present at Clarkson's autopsy, had never noted in any of his written reports his belief that Clarkson was alive for a significant period after being shot.

"I missed it initially," Baden said. He said he "had an 'aha' moment," in which he realized the significance of her lung weight, more recently.

Baden said he discussed his new conclusion with Spector attorney Christopher Plourd on Sunday.

Baden said that he did not know he was to testify in the trial and that he was in Los Angeles to be with his wife, Linda Kenney Baden, another of Spector's attorneys.

Jackson noted that Baden had been on the defense's witness list last week. He asked Baden if it "would be incorrect" for the defense to have named him as an upcoming witness last week. "It would be incorrect," Baden answered.

Plourd acknowledged that he hadn't told prosecutors of the substance of Baden's testimony. Plourd and Spector attorneys Roger Rosen and Bradley Brunon argued that testimony evolves in trials and new findings come up.

Fidler, visibly agitated, shot back, "I'm not going to agree with you." The judge called the defense's behavior "suspicious" and added: "Can I say you are lying ? I cannot say that.

"But it is clear to me there was a knowing, tactical decision made not to reveal [the information] to the prosecution."

Fidler said he needed time to think about what sanction to impose on the defense.

Despite its explosive nature, Baden's testimony did not visibly stir Spector. Moments after Baden said that Clarkson had clung to life, the defendant was slumped in his chair with his eyes shut.

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