Jurors in Spector Murder Case Visit Crime Scene

ALHAMBRA, Calif. — Jurors visited Phil Spector’s mansion yesterday to see the place where actress Lana Clarkson died, some of them sitting in a chair mimicking the position in which her body was found.Jurors, lawyers, and Mr. Spector himself arrived at the home, 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles, in several vans shortly before 10:30 a.m. Jurors stayed about a half-hour.After jurors had taken a first runthrough of the house, they gathered outside and formulated a list of things that they wanted to see and do, which they presented to Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler. One of those things they were allowed to do was to sit in a chair that was a copy of the one police found Clarkson in on February 3, 2003, dead of a bullet wound through the mouth.Several of them tried to duplicate the death scene, assuming the position her body was found in, slumped with legs extended.Prosecutors say Mr. Spector killed the 40-year-old actress when she tried to leave the house. Defense lawyers say she killed herself.Mr. Spector and his wife, Rachelle, wearing casual clothes, stood near the doorway as the jurors entered, along with lawyers and the judge. He has been free on $1 million bail during the trial. Judge Fidler conducted a brief court session telling jurors where they could and could not wander inside the mansion.Both Spectors appeared somber as they watched a procession of jurors and alternates weave through the house in groups of six. In every room, there were blowup photos, which have been in evidence at the trial, showing the scenes the jurors were viewing as well as the bloody photographs of Clarkson’s body.During the visit, several jurors also sat in a car in the courtyard that was placed there to replicate the vehicle Mr. Spector’schauffeur was sitting in when he said he heard Mr. Spector at a door to the home saying, “I think I killed somebody.”The defense has attacked the chauffeur’s statements, saying he could not have clearly heard what Mr. Spector said.The judge denied a request to let jurors sit in the car with the door closed and the air conditioning on. Judge Fidler said the car is only a duplicate and may have a different air conditioning system from Mr. Spector’s Mercedes.Mr. Spector is accused of murdering Clarkson after she went home with him for a drink. The question of where Mr. Spector was standing when she was shot and how far blood can travel have been key issues in the case.Prosecutors contend that blood spatter on Mr. Spector’s jacket got there when he shot Clarkson. The defense says Clarkson shot herself and the spatter could have hit him when he stood as far as six feet away.Later in the day, jurors had been expected to return to the courtroom to hear testimony from a fifth woman who claims Mr. Spector threatened her with a gun. Instead, the testimony was put off and the judge planned to discuss scheduling with them.Mr. Spector, 67, gained fame with his “Wall of Sound” music recording technique on hits such as “Be My Baby” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Clarkson found modest fame as the star of a cult movie, “Barbarian Queen,” in the 1980s, but was working as a nightclub hostess at the time of her death.

Jurors in Spector Murder Case Visit Crime Scene

Jurors in Spector Murder Case Visit Crime Scene

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