DA’s Emotion Vs. Spector’s Science in closing arguments, deliberations could start today
By Stacey Silberman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/7/07 – In an attempt to cast doubt on DA Alan Jackson’s detailed and dramatic closing argument Wednesday, defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden accused “the government” of disregarding evidence. She claimed that 67-year-old music producer Phil Spector was quickly and unfairly accused of murder to make him the “first celebrity notch in the government’s gun belt.”
Baden also disputes the chauffeur’s assertion that he heard Spector say, “I think I killed somebody.” Because the Brazilian-born Adriano De Souza has difficulty with English, Kenney-Baden insists that “he was simply mistaken.” She gave some examples of what he might have actually heard and goes on to list a few more reasons why he couldn’t have understood Spector’s words, including, the loud sound of the fountain plus music coming from the house and the car, made the quote suspect.
However, De Souza also testified under oath, that he witnessed Spector exiting the mansion with a gun in his hand, seconds after he heard a loud “pow” sound come from the house.
“Science is the best, the most accurate and the only impartial witness,” Kenney-Baden said. She also discounted testimony from the five female witnesses, who recalled Spector threatening them with guns during drunken rages over the past three decades, establishing a pattern of behavior. “Stories don’t trump science,” Baden told the jury.
Baden spent many hours during her closing argument, attacking “the government’s” claim that this was a homicide. She argued that the paramedics, Alhambra Police, coroner and criminologists fouled-up the scene and spatter evidence, calling it compromised. She noted the lack of experience by the forensics specialist in analyzing blood spatter resulting from intra-oral gunshot wounds.
She argued that their assumption, that Spector was an “arms length” away from Clarkson during the shooting, is faulty based on the incorrect use of sources for concluding the evidence. She also said that they had zero experience with intra-oral wounds. Baden went on to say that her defense had more knowledgeable experts, with the experience to conclude that the blood spatter evidence points to Clarkson’s death as suicide.
To further her point, Baden complained that “the government” neglected to do something highly unusual, according to trial observers – a “psychological autopsy” on the victim, which would have indicated a “desperately depressed, drug-addicted actress, who was ready to give it all up.” This is in stark contrast to the prosecution’s take on Clarkson, shown during the prosecution’s emotional closing argument.
DA Alan Jackson earlier in his wrap said, “The community we live in under the rule of law. You are empowered with the ultimate responsibility to seek justice for those who cannot seek justice for themselves, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Lana Clarkson was one of those people.”
“Yet she was so much more than that, she had a heart she had ups and downs and she was very much a human being and deserved more than just a bullet in her head.”
Jackson then ran a film reel, an emotional video of the sort seen on tribute shows. “That was the life that Phil Spector stole,” Jackson said in his finale after the montage. “Lana Clarkson deserves your justice.”
After which Baden waved the word science like a flag, repeating much of the mind-numbing medical testimony that took so many months to present. During the trial, the prosecution also presented a lineup of experts to refute defense experts; so much of the case may rely on whose doctors were the most convincing.
“The science is not meant to entertain you. It is not a Hollywood set or Entertainment Tonight,” Baden said. “Science is extremely passionate even if it is extremely rational.”
Though not part of the trial, Court TV had an interesting sidebar, a courthouse steps interview Phil’s son, Louis Spector.
He said “I don’t know who pulled the trigger, but his hand was on the gun. He was holding it. That’s easy to prove, he did wipe the gun. The question is whether he pulled the trigger.”
He continued “I believe it was an accident I don’t believe there is such a thing as accidental suicide. But I don’t believe Dad is a murderer. His bark was worse than his bite. He would threaten people but not kill them.
As for DA charges that Spector’s attorneys were trying to manipulate the jury and testimony, he said “The defense lawyers are supposed to manipulate, that’s their job. It takes a talented person to do that. Even (prosecutor) Alan Jackson does it, everyone is manipulating everything.”
One final note on Court TV’s coverage was a perhaps telling viewer’s poll on which attorney presenting a convincing closing argument. About 85 percent of the voting audience was not convinced by Baden’s argument, while a nearly equal 85 percent of them were convinced by the prosecutions closing argument.
While those numbers may seem overwhelmingly in favor of conviction in poll form, one must remember. Fifteen percent essentially believed Spector was innocent. And it only takes one person on the nine-man, three-woman jury to have a reasonably doubt. Though it’s based on a TV poll, it does seem to suggest two people on the jury might have doubts.
The defense has yet to rest its case and will conclude this morning. After one last prosecution rebuttal, the case goes to jury to decide Phil Spector’s fate. If convicted, he faces 15-years to life.