So, exactly where was Phil Spector standing when actress Lana Clarkson was shot dead in his Beverly Hills mansion? Well, that was one of the topics for discussion as forensics expert Lynne Herold continued with her actually quite long testimony at the ongoing Spector murder trial yesterday. Herold was deducing Spector's location at the moment the gun went bang mainly based on the blood splatters on the white jacket he was wearing. She said she thought the legendary producer must have been standing "within two to three feet" of Clarkson with his arms raised.
Of course Spector's being close to Clarkson at the time the gun went off is useful to the prosecution because it helps strengthen their claim that the producer fired the gun. And despite the defence's earlier claims that they will win this case based on their strong forensic evidence, expected to involve celebrity forensics expert Dr Henry Lee, the prosecution were yesterday hoping Herold's forensic testimony would also prove pretty strong - she being something of a 'blood splatter expert' apparently. In fact the prosecution gave Herold time to read off her credentials for investigating crime scenes where lots of blood was involved, in a bid to convince the jury that this was a witness whose opinion should be considered reliable.
"Most of the bloodstains are mistlike", Herold revealed regarding the jacket Spector was wearing at the time of the shooting, adding "you can barely see them". But with Herold's hi-tech microscope you can see they are definitely there, and as a result of the splatters she concludes "that piece of fabric was within two to three feet of the bloodletting event" because the bloodstains on the jacket were the result of a "high-velocity backspatter". Lovely.
There was also blood on Spector's trousers. It is less clear where that came from though Herold suggested it might have come from him putting the blood covered gun into his pocket. Either way, she was able to confirm that: "Something bloody came in contact with the inside of the left pants pocket".
As for the gun itself, the blood on there was smeared, suggesting that someone may have wiped the gun after the shooting. Prosecution lawyer Alan Jackson asked Herold: "Could that be a product of someone wiping the gun off?", to which the forensics expert answered: "That is one possible mechanism".
Herold is yet to face questioning from the defence. Once that is done the prosecution is expected to wind up its part of the trial.