The B-actress Phil Spector is accused of shooting dead, committed suicide, a court was told on Wednesday. A forensic expert testified that Lana Clarkson, 40, probably committed suicide at the defendant's mansion in February 2003 and that the homicide opinion made by the LA County deputy medical examiner was "hasty."
Dr. Werner Spitz complied with the previous forensic finding that Clarkson died of a gunshot wound inside her mouth, but said that concluding the death as a homicide was a hasty opinion.
"Most likely this is a self-inflicted wound. I'd probably call it a suicide," Spitz said.
The defense has claimed that Clarkson had been on drugs and was depressed when she accidentally committed suicide at the musician's Los Angeles hilltop mansion.
Spitz reiterated the defense opinion that Spector was too far away to shoot Clarkson because the force of the shot could have sent blood spatter as far as six feet.
Prosecution witnesses have testified that Spector was "within two to three feet" of Clarkson when she was shot at point blank range in the mouth.
The musical genius will face life in prison if he is convicted of the killing.
