Spector Defense Says Gun Threats Are 'Tall Tales'

LOS ANGELES, April 26 -- In the second day of opening statements in the Phil Spector murder trial, the record producer's defense team argued that their client is an eccentric but innocent man, and that the dead actress found in his foyer was depressed and drunk and may have either taken her own life or accidentally shot herself in the mouth. And those four other women who will testify that Spector liked to wave guns around and threaten his dates?

"Tears and tall tales," said defense lawyer Bruce Cutler.

The type of witnesses who would sell their stories to the National Enquirer, said Cutler. Women whose "isolated spats" with Spector ended "on a sour note." Women with axes to grind. "I implore you please keep in mind motive, incentive, bias and purpose," said Cutler, a beefy New Yorker most famous for his defense for mobster John Gotti.

On Wednesday, the murder trial began with prosecutor Alan Jackson saying that four women will testify that Spector pointed pistols at them while screaming obscenities and threatening their lives. Spector is charged with murder for allegedly shoving a .38-caliber Colt Cobra into Lana Clarkson's mouth and shooting her at his mansion four years ago. If convicted, the 67-year-old hitmaker faces 15 years to life in prison.

So why, Cutler asked on Thursday, are we just hearing from "these gun women" now? They never filed charges against Spector, never sued him in civil court, never sought medical attention. "These were women who were drawn to him, who came back to him after these incidents," he said.

Signaling that the cross-examinations may be rough, Cutler told jurors that at the Carlyle Hotel in New York, where one "ruckus" involving Spector occurred, "the people at the hotel thought she was a prostitute." "She" is Stephanie Jennings, a professional photographer who called 911 and reported being threatened, but did not press charges after she was allowed to leave.

Cutler, who referred to Clarkson as the "decedent," rather than the victim, mentioned her tequila-drinking and pill-taking. (Court documents show that at death she had a blood-alcohol level of .12 percent -- the California legal limit for driving is .08 percent -- and traces of the painkiller Vicodin.) Cutler remarked that Clarkson, a 40-year-old B-movie actress with cult status for her role in Roger Corman's "Barbarian Queen," was over six feet tall "in heels," while Spector is 5-4 and weighs 135 pounds, suggesting that it would have been difficult to force a weapon into Clarkson's mouth if she resisted.

"She took her life, unfortunately, much too young," Cutler said. He mentioned that as Clarkson and Spector drove back to his home from the House of Blues, they watched an old James Cagney movie on DVD in the Mercedes: "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye."

"How prophetic," Cutler said.

He continued: "The evidence will show he had no motive to hurt this woman, bore no malice toward this woman. The evidence will show the gun was held by the decedent when she died. The gun was in her mouth, put there by her. The evidence will show this is an accident."

Another of Spector's defense attorneys, Linda Kenney-Baden, said the death pose and path of the bullet show "a classic self-inflicted wound." She showed diagrams from the autopsy that indicate the single bullet went upward, that her teeth were scattered around the room, but not shoved into her mouth as if someone had forced the gun there. And while there was blood spray on Spector's clothes, there was very little gunshot residue.

Finally, Kenney-Baden said that Clarkson's computer contained notes in which she wrote of trashing her apartment while in the midst of a depression and another that read: "I'm going to tidy my affairs and chuck it."

Toward the end of the day, the first witness took the stand: Dorothy Melvin, who was Joan Rivers's manager for 23 years. Melvin, calm, in a black suit with white blouse buttoned at the neck, said she dated Spector casually for two years when he would visit her in New York. Then she went to his house on July 4, 1993.

"It was really a lovely evening," she recalled, though Spector was drinking vodka straight from a bottle. Melvin fell asleep on the couch. When she awoke, Spector was pointing a gun at her car. Then he pointed it at her, then he smacked her on her head.

Melvin said she was sobbing and asked him, "Why are you doing this?" Spector accused her of stealing mementos from his home, then ordered her to take off her clothes and go upstairs. "Then I hit real terror," she testified before a rapt courtroom. Eventually, he let her go, after chasing her down the driveway with a shotgun. Melvin called 911 and the police arrived.

Spector was "charming" to the police, Melvin said, telling them that they had "lovers' spats" all the time and she would call police. Why didn't she press charges? Melvin answered, "I didn't want it to become a National Enquirer cover."