It's been a long time coming, but finally a coroner has made an appearance at the Phil Spector murder trial – good news for everyone except Phil Spector, since the coroner seems to think that Phil Spector might actually be a murderer.
Over the course of events in court yesterday, coroner Louis Pena pulled apart everything from the crime scene – from Lana Clarkson's bruised tongue to her mental state before she died – challenging the defence's claim that Lana Clarkson committed suicide. This is a huge turning point in the trial, and Phil Spector needs to react quickly. Just as he altered his appearance to look less threatening when the trial began by wearing a cute blonde lesbian wig, now maybe Phil Spector needs to continue down this road by turning up to court tomorrow in a pink frilly dress, ringlets and disarmingly oversized lollipop. Try focusing on important coroner evidence when faced with that.
For a while we were starting to suspect that the entire Phil Spector murder trial was going to centre around all the women who Phil Spector apparently pulled guns on, since there was such an endless display of them that not even claims that Phil Spector was essentially Elmer Fudd could liven anything up. But now the murder trial has kicked into a higher gear with the appearance of Deputy Medical Examiner Louis Pena, a man who seems to know all about the way people die.
Louis Pena took the stand yesterday to give his version of events surrounding the death of Lana Clarkson at Phil Spector's hone in 2003. And it was devastating for the defence team, who saw their claim that Lana Clarkson committed suicide systematically dismantled. The LA Times reports:
Under questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson, Pena said Clarkson's tongue had been bruised, possibly by the gun barrel, before the shot was fired. Bruises on Clarkson's wrists were consistent with her resisting someone grabbing her wrists, Pena said.
Not only that, but Pena added that suicides rarely happen at other people's homes, that Lana Clarkson probably visited Phil Spector's house to get a leg-up with her career – which suicide would probably negate – and that the position of Lana Clarkson's handbag would have made it difficult for her to shoot herself.
So far it's been easy for Phil Spector's defence team to deflect away claims made by the prosecution – the women claimed that Phil Spector pulled guns on them because they're horrible people, the driver who Phil Spector apparently confessed his guilt to spoke useless English and, anyway, Phil Spector is too much of a midget to be a murderer – but the credibility of the coroner's evidence will take a lot of explaining away. Plus, it doesn't help that Phil Spector's defence forensic expert probably stole a fingernail from the crime scene, decimating any credibility he ever had.
Still, all is not lost for Phil Spector. Today Pena will continue to be cross-examined by one of Spector's attorneys, so maybe something will be said that dissolves Phil Spector of any responsibility. Failing that, there's always the dress/ ringlets/ lollipop plan. Seriously, who'd convict a 67-year-old man dressed up as a little girl?
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Mithaearon says
What Phil’s team needs to do is pull the Chewbacca Defense as seen on South Park. Tbh I am unsure why they haven’t done this before already?