US:A defence expert in the Phil Spector murder trial yesterday challenged a key prosecution contention by testifying that blood can spatter farther than three feet.
The defence continued its forensic case by calling James Pex, a blood expert. Spatter is the explosive pattern blood makes as it leaves a wound.
It was found on the jacket Spector was wearing when Lana Clarkson died.
Prosecution witnesses have said the spatter evidence shows that the gunshot that killed Ms Clarkson was fired within three feet, supporting the prosecution argument that the music producer was standing close enough to fire the shot that killed her.
The defence maintains that Spector was more than three feet away, so he could not have fired the shot that killed Ms Clarkson. The defence has called the death an "accidental suicide".
Spector is charged with shooting Ms Clarkson in the early hours of February 3rd, 2003. She was found in the foyer of his Alhambra mansion.
Mr Pex's testimony was interrupted to allow Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler to explain his Tuesday ruling that in effect gagged Jody "Babydol" Gibson, a convicted Hollywood madam, whom the defence had sought to put on the stand.
Judge Fidler has ruled that Ms Gibson's testimony was "inadmissible and irrelevant". He again ordered her not to discuss any aspect of the case. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)