LINDA DEUTSCH, LOS ANGELES
Phil Spector's lawyer told jurors yesterday at the music producer's murder trial that prosecutors presented "speculation instead of certainty" as to who pulled the trigger of the gun that was fired inside the mouth of actress Lana Clarkson.
Defence lawyer Linda Kenney-Baden, in her closing remarks, reinforced the contention that Spector was too far away to have fired it and that Clarkson killed herself.
"Finally after four years of investigation, five months of trial and approximately 70 witnesses, we have a variety of the government's speculations as to how this could have happened," Kenney-Baden said.
"Some of them, you heard yesterday, include: The gun fell into her mouth. She was talking and he put the gun in her mouth. She screamed and he put the gun in her mouth. It even got to the point (where) a big gust of wind or an earthquake could have made the gun go off. It must have been San Andreas' fault," she said sarcastically.
Spector, 67, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Clarkson, 40, who died of a gunshot while seated in the foyer of his home at about 5am on February 3, 2003. She had gone home with Spector from her job as a nightclub hostess.
After Kenney-Baden's summation for the defence, prosecutor Pat Dixon, was to present the prosecution's wrap-up argument before the jury retires.-AP
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