US:The defence in the Phil Spector murder trial has launched its case, calling a scientific expert who testified that the physical evidence in the death of Lana Clarkson was consistent with the actress killing herself.
Dr Vincent DiMaio, the first of an expected string of specialists, took the stand on Tuesday after the prosecution completed two months of testimony in its case against Spector (67).
The music producer is accused of killing Clarkson (40) hours after meeting the actress and hostess at the VIP area of the House of Blues in Hollywood.
Clarkson's body was found in the foyer of Spector's Alhambra mansion on February 3rd, 2003. She had been shot in the mouth with a bullet fired from a .38-calibre Colt Cobra, which was recovered at the scene.
DiMaio was firm in saying that Clarkson died from a self-inflicted wound. The defence maintains that Clarkson shot herself and has called the incident "an accidental suicide."
"People think the most difficult cases are homicides," DiMaio said in his initial testimony.
"That's not true. It's suicide. People do not want to accept suicides. They will try to make suicides homicides."
DiMaio, a retired chief medical examiner in Texas and a frequent expert witness, insisted that the physical evidence - the gunshot residue and the blood spatter on Clarkson's hands - indicated a self-inflicted wound.
DiMaio's testimony contrasted sharply with the prosecution's forensic case, which concluded on Tuesday.
The prosecution's last scientific witness, Lynne Herold, a criminologist with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, has insisted that Spector was within three feet of Clarkson when the fatal shot was fired.
She testified the blood spatter - the pattern made by blood as it hit Spector's white coat - was consistent with her finding.
DiMaio rejected that conclusion, saying a German study on animals showed that blood droplets could go farther.
The defence said the physical evidence shows that Spector could have been five to six feet away and could have been moving rather than standing still.
The distance or movement would make it unlikely Spector could have forced the gun into Clarkson's mouth, the defence has argued. -( LA Times-Washington Post service)