Actress' Mother Testifies In Phil Spector Murder Trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The mother of Lana Clarkson was called to testify at Phil Spector's murder trial Monday to help build the defense's picture of a desperate actress who was suicidal. <br/><br/>Donna

Monday, August 13th 2007, 9:29 pm

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The mother of Lana Clarkson was called to testify at Phil Spector's murder trial Monday to help build the defense's picture of a desperate actress who was suicidal.

Donna Clarkson surprised the defense as she described how her daughter bought seven pairs of shoes for a new job as a nightclub hostess some 12 hours before she died of a gunshot in Spector's mansion in 2003. She also identified a series of glamour photographs the actress had taken to seek work about a month before her death.

The unexpected testimony was elicited by the prosecution, which has suggested that Lana Clarkson was looking to the future and not suicidal.

Spector, 67, a legendary music producer whose ``Wall of Sound'' technique revolutionized rock music, is charged with murdering Lana Clarkson, who was working as a hostess at the House of Blues nightclub the night they met. He had invited her home with him for a drink.

The defense claims the woman who found modest fame as the star of a cult movie, ``Barbarian Queen,'' in the 1980s, shot herself.

To show her desperation, defense attorney Bradley Brunon suggested the actress had forged letters, which indicated she had strong prospects in an acting career, as a way to get money from an acquaintance who had loaned her cash in the past.

Defense attorneys had simply wanted Donna Clarkson to identify the letters found in her daughter's home. Donna Clarkson acknowledged the letters were found after the actress' death and that her daughter had borrowed money from a man in San Francisco.

Another person named in at least one letter also testified it was a forgery.

Marc Hirschfeld testified he had worked as executive vice president of casting at NBC and had cast Lana Clarkson in at least one role a number of years ago.

He said even though they remained friends, he never wrote a letter with his purported signature was fake. It mentioned an NBC job title that does not exist and was written on phony letterhead, he testified.

The letter also contained language he would never use such as ``you've done it kid,'' he said.

Earlier in the day, Spector's lawyers recalled to the witness stand a scientist critical of blood analysis done by the Los Angeles County sheriff's laboratory.

James Pex, retired director of the Oregon State Police Crime Lab, cited documents showing the sheriff's lab sought certification from the American Society of Crime Lab directors but failed an initial test for blood analysis in 2003 over procedures for identifying crusted blood.

Pex suggested the identification of blood is tricky and can't be based just on visual observation or techniques depicted on TV shows like ``CSI.'' He said the key is ``precision, accuracy and sensitivity'' of testing procedures.

To make his point, he showed jurors microscope slides of blood and then a microscopic view of a piece of tomato skin which presumably could be mistaken for blood.

Defense attorney Christopher Plourd showed Pex crime scene photos of Clarkson's hands the night she was shot through the mouth. Each hand had a minuscule dot of blood.

``In determining between a homicide and a suicide the blood patterns on the hands are pivotal,'' Pex testified.

That led to demonstrations by both prosecutor Alan Jackson and Plourd who disputed how the gun might have been held when it fired.

Pex said one thing was certain: ``Blood doesn't go around corners. It travels in a straight line.''