So, it was back to the alleged crime itself as the Phil Spector murder trial continued yesterday, with the prosecution calling their final witness, a forensic scientist from the LA County Sheriff's Department called Lynne Herold.
She was questioned as to the way Lana Clarkson's body was found when police arrived at Spector's Beverly Hills mansion about 45 minutes after she had been shot dead. Crucially, Herold said that she thought Spector may well have moved Clarkson's body, albeit slightly, while he waited for the police to arrive.
Herold said that the former actress' head appeared to have been moved "at least once" to the left side of her body after she had died, and the only person around to do that was presumably Spector. She also said it looked like Clarkson's face had been wiped, possibly with a cloth diaper that was found near her body by police. Looking for clarification, prosecution lawyer Alan Jackson asked: "Somebody manipulated not only the face and neck, but somebody manipulated the blood on her face and neck, correct?", to which Herold answered "Correct".
Herold was also asked about how some of Clarkson's blood could have been found in the hallway of Spector's house, as it was. She said that she thought the blood had dripped off either the gun, the aforementioned cloth diaper or Spector himself at sometime shortly after the actress was shot. We know Spector walked around his home with the blood covered gun shortly after the shooting, because his former chauffeur testified that he saw the producer appear at a side of the house carrying the gun.
Herold is expected to be the last witness called by the prosecution, though her testimony may continue for much of the week.
The main subject matter of the trial has been overshadowed for a few days, of course, by the row over whether one of Spector's former defence lawyers, Sara Caplan, should expand on her earlier private testimony that she saw Henry Lee, a forensic specialist employed by the defence team, remove a small white fragment from the scene of the crime - what the prosecution claim was probably a piece of finger nail. As previously reported, Caplan says she cannot testify because of client attorney privileges, but Judge Larry Paul Fidler disagrees and will issue contempt proceedings against her today, which could see the lawyer in jail by the end of the week.
The case continues.