So, yesterday it was the turn of the defence to take to the stand to try its best to convince judge, jury and watching world, though mainly the jury, that Phil Spector did not kill actress Lana Clarkson at his Beverly Hills mansion on 3 Feb 2003. She, in fact, killed herself.
Unusually for this kind of case, the prosecution did not actually rest its case before handing over to the defence. This is because they still hope they will be able to get former Spector defence lawyer Sara Caplan who, of course, is currently refusing to testify, to eventually answer their questions in court as to what happened at Spector's house after the police had finished their investigation and whether, as she earlier claimed, she saw Dr Henry Lee, a forensics expert working for the defence, remove a small white fragment from the scene of the alleged crime. As previously reported, Caplan is currently in contempt of court for refusing to testify after Judge Larry Paul Fidler refused to accept her excuse that she couldn't give evidence against Spector because of client attorney confidentiality rules.
The prosecution are keen to prove Lee did remove what could have been key evidence from the crime scene in a bid to damage his credibility as a defence witness in the case - mainly because the defence have been, to date, bullish about their as yet not presented forensic evidence which, they claim, will clear their client. While the prosecution had their own forensic specialists offering their thoughts about where Spector was in relation to Clarkson as she was shot, what he did after the gun went off, and why Spector's DNA was not on the gun, it is debatable whether any of that forensic evidence could be said to have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Spector actually pulled the trigger that night in 2003.
And with the defence promising that "science" will prove their client not guilty, a forensics expert was their first witness yesterday - Dr Vincent DiMaio - a former chief medical examiner in Bexar County, Texas who now owns his own private practice in forensic pathology. Although like the prosecution's forensic witnesses, DiMaio admitted he couldn't say 100% what happened in Spector's home that night, he was willing to say 99% what happened, which is pretty damn close.
Soon into his testimony DiMaio told the court room: "She's got blood on her hands, she's got gunshot residue - that's 99 percent suicide. When you stick to the scientific evidence, it's suicide".
Fidler called the proceedings into recess before the prosecution had a chance to question DiMaio, so it remains to be seen if he remains so resolute when up against aggressive questioning. It is not clear just how many forensic experts the defence will present as part of their case, though the aforementioned Dr Henry Lee is still expected to testify, despite all the issues surrounding that possibly non-existent tiny white fragment.
There has also been renewed media speculation this week as to whether the defence will call Spector himself to the witness stand. I thought the consensus was they wouldn't, but some reporters now seem less sure of that fact.