No ruling on lost object in Spector trial

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Judge Larry Paul Fidler is reserving judgment on an object allegedly removed from Phil Spector's mansion where actress Lana Clarkson died.

Greg Diamond, who went to law school but did not pass the bar exam, alleges he saw someone on Spector's defense team "pick up something off the floor," The Los Angeles Times reports. Diamond once worked as an intern and clerk for Spector's former lawyer, Robert Shapiro.

Stanley White, an investigator for the defense, claimed in 2004 he observed well-known criminalist Henry Lee with what looked like a fingernail. Lee currently is out of the country.

Fidler says he won't make a decision on the allegedly missing evidence until Lee returns. The judge assigned Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola School of Law, to "look into the matter," the Times said.

Actress Lana Clarkson died of a gunshot wound Feb. 3, 2003, in Spector's Alhambra mansion. In 2004, prosecutors alleged the defense team may have removed a piece of Clarkson's fingernail during a sweep of the crime scene the day after the shooting.