Defense in Phil Spector murder trial targets mistakes in handling of evidence

A coroner who concluded that Lana Clarkson's death was a homicide testified in Phil Spector's murder trial that he cannot tell from autopsy results whether the actress was holding the gun that killed her.

The statement Wednesday was important because the music producer's defense is seeking to show that the 40-year-old killed herself. The coroner, Dr. Louis Pena, said he left the manner of death in the case undetermined for seven months before he wrote a report finding it was a homicide.

Pena said that Clarkson had gunshot residue on both of her hands and that he classified the case as "pending" until he finally signed off on it and entered a death certificate on Sept. 19, 2003. But the residue didn't necessarily mean she fired the gun, he said.

"There are two ways to look at it," said Pena. "It implies the person could have been holding a weapon at the time of discharge or could be in the vicinity."

On Tuesday, Pena testified that Clarkson had a bruise on her tongue indicating a trauma, possibly from the gun being shoved in her mouth, and had recent bruises on her right arm and hand. But he conceded Wednesday he didn't consider the tongue bruise significant until prosecutors raised the matter recently.

Spector, 67, is accused of shooting Clarkson, 40, on Feb. 3, 2003, after she agreed to accompany him to his mansion from her job as a hostess at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip.

The medical examiner also said that criminalists made mistakes in evidence collection and handling, including the loss of a piece of one of Clarkson's teeth. Pena acknowledged in cross-examination by defense attorney Christopher Plourd that the mistakes also included moving Clarkson's body, which caused blood to flow out of her mouth, compromising evaluation of her dress for blood spatter.

Pena said the lost tooth fragment was the fault of an odontologist _ a forensic dentist _ who was called in on the case.

"There were three vials collected to be examined by the odontologist," Pena said. "What happened is on review in meeting with the odontologist he admitted he broke one of the vials and the tooth fragment was lost. It flew around the room somewhere."

Asked how this happened, Pena said, "When my back was turned he took it out, cracked the vial, panicked _ as he told me _ and sealed it again." Pena said the fragment was never found.

The coroner said he had found some of the tooth fragments on a red carpet in front of Clarkson's body and some on a staircase nearby, indicating that the force of the gunshot fired inside her mouth sent her two front teeth flying out.

The missing tooth fragment was among items in an in-house coroner's office memo about concerns in the case.

The memo also said said a criminalist used lift-off tape on Clarkson's dress to collect samples of evidence and inadvertently compromised the ability to evaluate blood spatter on the dress.

As for the blood from the mouth, the memo said, "Body movement caused oral purge which soaked the side of the dress and also compromised evaluation of the dress for blood spatter."

In other testimony, Pena said he was aware at the death scene that a piece of acrylic nail was missing from Clarkson's right thumb. The prosecution claims that defense experts later found the piece of nail when they searched the scene but withheld it from authorities.

Pena said there was no evidence that Clarkson had been putting her affairs in order in advance of a suicide, and he described the actress as a hopeful person with no history of depression or suicide attempts. Clarkson had been taking two drugs generally given for depression, but her neurologist had prescribed them for her chronic headaches, the coroner said.

He said she died with a purse on one shoulder in a stranger's home, which he said is not typical of someone taking her own life.

He also cited evidence that the gun had been wiped and a large amount of Clarkson's blood was in the left pocket of Spector's pants, which could indicate the gun was placed in the pocket.

Spector rose to fame in the 1960s with what became known as the "Wall of Sound" recording technique that changed pop music. Clarkson was best known for her role in Roger Corman's 1985 cult film "Barbarian Queen."