Judge: Spector trial to go on despite ill lawyer

updated 6:52 p.m. ET May 4, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Testimony in music producer Phil Spector’s murder trial will continue next week even if his lead defense attorney remains on sick leave, the judge said Friday.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler has not disclosed attorney Bruce Cutler’s ailment although his co-counsel have said he had a problem with his diabetes medication.

Cutler was to see a doctor Friday to check his ability to return to the trial Monday after a weeklong absence, Fidler said.

The judge said Spector has many other lawyers who could take over if Cutler is unavailable.

“Even if he is not here, unless you can show me he is due to cross-examine a witness or his presence is necessary, we will go forward,” Fidler said.

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Spector, 67, whose “Wall of Sound” transformed rock ’n’ roll in the 1960s, has pleaded not guilty in the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion Feb. 3, 2003. Defense attorneys have argued she shot herself.

With the jury and Spector absent, the judge continued to hear testimony on a mysterious small white object possibly found on the floor near the body, mentioning a tooth fragment or part of a fingernail. The prosecution claims the defense found it at the crime scene and hid it.

Prosecutors have suggested that the missing piece of acrylic fingernail would help to determine whether Clarkson was killed in a struggle or shot herself.

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