AP Features, August 15th, 2007
A prosecutor in Phil Spector's murder trial on Wednesday angrily accused a noted forensic pathologist of conflict of interest and of inventing a surprise new theory about Lana Clarkson's death to help defense attorneys bolster their case.
Dr. Michael Baden, who is married to a member of the defense team, said that Prosecutor Alan Jackson's accusation was "completely untrue."
Baden had testified the day before that he believed that Clarkson's spinal cord was not completely severed when a bullet tore through her mouth, supporting defense claims that Clarkson could have spewed blood onto Spector's jacket with her final words after she shot herself.
Prosecutors accused defense attorneys of withholding information from them, and Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler agreed, saying the defense had violated discovery laws. He has yet to decide upon a penalty.
Jackson devoted much of his cross-examination Wednesday to suggesting that Baden cannot be trusted because he is married to one of the defense attorneys. Baden said his wife played no role in the discussions about his latest opinion because she is taking a break from the trial because of illness, and is on strong medications and sedated.
He has been working on the case for four years, before his wife was hired to join the defense team, he said.
"And you just came up with this epiphany on Sunday?" asked Jackson.
"Yes," said Baden, although he said he disagreed with the word "epiphany."
Jackson asked if he had consulted with some of the other experts who never brought up similar theories.
"I didn't speak to them and I didn't speak to my wife about it," he said. "I didn't think it was such a big deal."
Spector, 67, a legendary music producer, is accused of shooting Clarkson, 40, to death at his suburban mansion in February 2003, hours after she went home with him from her job as a nightclub hostess.
Baden was the latest in a long line of defense experts to come under attack by Jackson, who has portrayed them as hired guns paid to give opinions favorable to the defense. He stressed that Baden will have been paid $110,000 (euro81,600) by the time he finishes testifying.
Baden testified Wednesday that there was an agreement that his wife would not question him if he took the witness stand.
"And the reason your wife would never take you on direct (examination) is because the conflict would be so glaring," the prosecutor said in an accusatory tone.
"No," said Baden. "It's because someone like you would make it appear dirty and it would harm the client."
"Isn't it true you were orchestrating all the expert testimony behind the scenes with your wife?" asked Jackson.
"That's completely untrue," said Baden, who added that the other experts were renowned in their fields.
"I'm a schlemiel compared to them," he said, drawing laughter in the courtroom. "We talked. But I would be presumptuous to tell them what to say."
He reiterated his finding that Clarkson's death was from a self-inflicted gunshot to the mouth.
A prosecution expert has testified that Spector had to be within three feet (0.9 meters) for blood spatter to land on his jacket. The coroner who performed the autopsy told the jury that Clarkson's severed spine would have caused almost instantaneous death and she would not have exhaled or expelled blood forcefully out of her mouth.
Baden said her spinal cord was not completely transected by the bullet and may have been torn further during transportation to the morgue.
