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'Actress shot herself'
27/04/2007 09:54 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Lawyers for music producer Phil Spector told a jury on Thursday that the actress he is charged with murdering shot herself while under the influence of alcohol and painkillers and that scientific evidence would prove it.
In opening arguments on the second day of the long-awaited trial, one of Spector's lawyers also said that four other women, who will testify that Spector brandished guns at them years ago, were telling "tall tales" and never filed charges against him.
Spector, 67, best known for his 1960s Wall of Sound recording technique and work with The Beatles and The Righteous Brothers, faces life in prison if he is convicted of killing B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in the foyer of his imposing Los Angeles area mansion on February 3, 2003.
Spector met Clarkson, 40, at a Hollywood club on the night of her death and the two went back to his home for a late drink. She died of a gunshot to her mouth.
Lead defence lawyer Bruce Cutler said Spector "had no motive to hurt this woman. He harbored no malice towards this woman".
Spector's other lawyer, Linda Kenney Baden, said Clarkson's intentions were not known, but she had been depressed. "What we do know is that she put the barrel (of the gun) in her mouth. We know she was drinking, we know she was taking pills."
She said the defence would show forensic evidence based on gunshot residue and on the position of the gun, blood and tissue spatter that would prove Clarkson herself held the gun inside her mouth, not Spector.
- Reuters
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South Africa
