Phil Spector's lawyer tampered with evidence?

A former clerk working for Phil Spector's original defense attorney in his murder trial claims that a lawyer for Spector tampered with evidence. Guardian.co.uk reported that on Wednesday night (May 2nd) in Los Angeles Superior Court, Greg Diamond, who worked for lawyer Robert Shapiro, testified without the jury present that the day after the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at Spector's mansion he witnessed Sarah Caplan, another lawyer on Spector's team at the time, "retrieve a small piece of tooth or fingernail that had been overlooked by police from Spector's foyer."

He said that the object was passed around Spector's then-defense team, including forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. According to Diamond's testimony, Baden held the evidence that day, saying, "Dr. Baden did make mention of what the item was. He said it was a fragment of a tooth... Everyone had seen the item in some capacity." Upon taking the stand Baden denied Diamond's account.

Caplan, called Diamond's account "absurd" and said that, "I would never touch an object at an alleged crime scene, ever."

In 2004, prosecutors filed a motion requesting that a piece of Clarksonâ??s fingernail in the possession of the defense be turned over to the State. Spector's defense team responded that no such evidence existed.

More evidence is to be heard today (Friday, May 4th) without the jury who have been given the week off. Spector remains free on $1 million bail.