Another criminalist gave evidence at the ongoing Phil Spector murder trail yesterday, called by the prosecution to fill in any gaps in the description of the crime scene so far provided by Mark Lillienfeld, one of the first police officers on the scene after actress Lana Clarkson was shot, and fellow criminalist Steve Renteria, who analysed items from the crime scene, including the gun that killed Clarkson.
This time it was Jaime Lintemoot discussing her forensic work on the Spector case. Lintemoot's main role after Clarkson's death was collating evidence from the former actress' clothing - anything that might give some clues as to what happening in the moments prior to her death.
The defence used the opportunity of Lintemoot being in the witness stand to pick holes in her work on the Spector case. They seized on the fact that, a year after the shooting, Lintemoot had been called to a meeting at the coroner's office to explain the procedures she used in gathering forensic evidence from the scene of the crime. The implication was that that meeting was called because there were concerns about her work.
Spector's legal team accused Lintemoot of "tainting the evidence" when she collected fibres and hairs off Clarkson's body, mainly on the basis that the tape she used to gather that evidence also possibly removed some blood splatters which could have been vital evidence, but also because she decided to remove Clarkson's clothing at the coroner's office rather than at the crime scene, which meant more blood got onto the clothes in transit. This is all a problem, the defence argue, because the way the blood was splattered on and around Clarkson is important for guessing where Spector was at the time the gun went off. According to the defence, of course, Spector wasn't anywhere where he could have pulled the trigger, they arguing that Clarkson shot herself.
Although accepting that some blood splatters may have been removed during her work, and that more blood spilled onto the clothes in transit, Lintemoot denied she had acted negligently while collecting evidence from the crime scene. She told the court: "I do not believe that I compromised evidence. Throughout the night I was constantly changing gloves to prevent contamination and also for safety. You don't want to be handling bloody items".
When not defending her work, Lintemoot provided some more information about Clarkson's clothing, confirming she found a lipstick tucked under the actress' left breast inside her bra, and that she wore a short slip dress and jacket at the time of the shooting, the black skirt and gloves she'd worn while at work earlier that evening having been put in her bag.
The trial continues.