Phil Spector's DNA was not found on the gun that killed Lana Clarkson, though it's possible that it might have been there but hidden under all the blood that covered the firearm after Clarkson was shot, which is a lovely image for a Tuesday lunch time, I'm sure you'll all agree.
The issue of DNA came up as a criminalist (that's someone who specialises in examining the physical evidence of a crime, in case you wondered) who worked with the police investigating the death of actress Clarkson at Spector's Beverly Hills home back in 2003 took to the witness stand as the legendary producer's long running murder trial continued. The trail is still hearing the case for the prosecution.
The criminalist, one Steve Renteria, admitted that numerous items analysed by the crime lab after the shooting only showed DNA from Clarkson, but he added that that didn't mean that Spector hadn't been in contact with any of those items, merely that cells from Clarkson were present in such high quantities (mainly through blood splatters) that any DNA from Spector was masked.
Prosecutor Alan Jackson, looking for clarification on that point, asked Renteria: "Just because Lana Clarkson was the sole donor [of DNA] that doesn't mean that nobody else on earth came in contact with those things?", to which the criminalist responded: "Correct ... It all has to do with the amount of cells present. There could have been trace cells from another donor but they may have been overwhelmed by the large smear [of blood]".
All that is important to the prosecution because the defence will make much of the fact Spector's DNA was not found on the gun or the bullets in it, because they hope that will demonstrate that the producer did not touch the gun that night and that, as Spector claims, Clarkson shot herself. Expert claims that perhaps Spector's DNA was there but was masked are helpful in the prosecution's bid to limit the amount of doubt the defence can put in the jury's mind with regards the producer's guilt.
Perhaps also helping the prosecution in the forensics domain was the lack of blood on the wall and carpet near by Clarkson after she was shot, which Renteria also testified to yesterday. He confirmed that there were areas near Clarkson where you would expect to have found blood splatters but where there was none (and he was sure of that, because he'd sprayed the area with Luminol, which detects blood stains not visible to the eye). That would suggest - or, at least, so the prosecution will say - that something was shielding those areas - ie Spector - putting him close enough to Clarkson at the time the gun went off to have been holding it.
All this slightly gruesome forensic stuff followed more bickering between the defence and prosecution counsels in yet another private session sans-jury. The defence, surely in something of an optimistic mood, tried to have a mis-trial declared because the prosecution had kept it a secret that they were presenting that former member of the Spector defence team who accused one of the defence's experts from concealing evidence. But Judge Larry Paul Fidler rejected the request, saying: "I don't see anything here that rises to the level of stopping this trial and starting again".
The trial continues.