One of the more interesting aspects of the Phil Spector murder trial this week – aside from someone claiming that Phil Spector wanted to shoot every single female on Earth in the face – has probably been a woman talking about fingernails.
Former Phil Spector lawyer Sara Caplain took to the stand yesterday to testify for the prosecution, claiming that she saw Spector's forensics expert Henry Lee swipe a potentially incriminating fragment of Lana Clarkson's fingernail from the crime scene. Caplain had initially been refusing to testify against Spector, although she relented when threatened with jail. All in all, it's thought that this turn of events is the third most interesting fingernail-related Phil Spector fact after the time Phil Spector used a tincan full of monks' fingernails to provide the rhythm for Be My Baby and the time Phil Spector turned up to a party in a wig made exclusively out of fingernails, only to loudly shout that all women deserved to be shot in the face a lot. Possibly.
There's been a bit of a subplot running alongside the Phil Spector murder trial recently. While the bulk of the trial itself has been backwards and forwards over the issue of whether a) Phil Spector, the notorious gunpoint rape-attempter who thought all women were "fucking cunts" who should be shot, took Lana Clarkson back to his castle, sexually forced himself upon her and then shot her in the mouth before bragging to his driver that he killed someone or b) Phil Spector, the notorious wussbag, took Lana Clarkson back to his castle only for her to get depressed enough to kill herself, the issue of fingernails has been bubbling away in the background.
Police reports claim that a small fragment of Lana Clarkson's acrylic fingernail was missing from the crime scene. The prosecution against Phil Spector said the fingernail fragment was vital, as it could have been blown off as Lana Clarkson put her hand to her mouth to stop Phil Spector murdering her, so when it was claimed that Phil Spector's defence team may have tampered with evidence, everyone sat up and listened. And then Phil Spector's old lawyer Sara Caplan said she saw Henry Lee put something resembling a fingernail into a vial – good for the defence but less good for Caplan, who was threatened with jail unless she repeated the claims in front of a jury as part of the prosecution.
After weeks of claiming that testifying against Phil Spector would betray her duty to him, yesterday Caplan relented and spoke up, as the Los Angeles Times reports:
Based on Caplan's earlier account, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler had ruled that Lee improperly removed evidence, and ordered Caplan to testify before the jury… But a day after her final appeal was rejected by the California Supreme Court, Caplan capitulated and took the stand. Her displeasure at serving as a prosecution witness testifying against Lee — whom she had worked with on the O.J. Simpson defense — was obvious. When Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson asked her if the vial Lee used "was clear — could you see through it?" she sarcastically replied, "I know what clear means; yes."
Although this is a situation nobody comes out of looking good – evidence tampering claims won't help Phil Spector, and Sara Caplan will struggle to regain her reputation after testifying against a former client – the real loser here is Henry Lee, who is apparently so angry at this turn of events that he's stopped answering his phonecalls and is threatening to no longer testify for Phil Spector's defence any more. Since Lee's findings were to form the keystone of the defence, it seems as though the defence will have to find another tactic to convince the jury that Lana Clarkson killed herself. Has anyone mentioned that she was quite depressed yet?
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Michael says
It is spelled DEFENSE – not DEFENCE.
Kind of underminds your site/comments with such an egregious speliing error.
Stuart Heritage says
Is anyone else gonna tell him, or should I?
Gilbert Wham says
Nah, I say let it stand on its own merits.
Internet Pedant says
Wait for the confusingly inappropriate post about American politics.
Michael says
I now realise I am an ignorant buffoon.
Viking Lumberjack says
I really don’t want to say this, but can’t seem to help myself. Michael, you do REALIZE that it’s normally spelled with a Z and not an S?
Viking Lumberjack says
And I just “realised” that apparently that’s an acceptable (though less common) form of spelling it, and now I’m the ignorant buffoon.
I owe everyone a beer.
Wadey says
This fingernail buisness is getting out of hand. If the LAPD cannot find some false nails to scatter at murder scenes then who can?
Henry Lee’s TV series is shite and has an audiance of three here in the UK so he should stick to fried rice and omit the finger nails if at all possible.
Thank you and goodnight.
Wadey says
In addition and as a general rule of thumb if you are
female
depressed
working for washers
wear false nails
pissed
don’t go back to Mr Wall of Sound’s home for a nightcap as it may lead to a misunderstanding resulting in you getting your head blown off.
Of course there’s no point in crying over spilt milk or blown off heads but you get the general idea.
wadey