Court TV Host: Discuss the Phil Spector murder trial with Courttv.com's Harriet Ryan, who is covering the trial in Los Angeles. Spector is accused of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who was fatally shot inside the music producer's home in February 2003.

Court TV Host: I'm sure you all have lots of questions about Dr. Henry Lee.

Court TV Host: Here's Harriet's latest story about Lee. And you can also look at a transcript of Harriet's last chat here.

Court TV Host: Welcome, Harriet - thanks for being our guest today.

Harriet Ryan: My pleasure.

Question from kiara: Welcome Harriet....what do you think Henry Lee's reaction to the judge's ruling will be?

Harriet Ryan: Well, I imagine he's mortified. He's lecturing outside the country until the beginning of June. At least that's what his assistant says when I contacted him for reaction. Dr. Lee isn't someone whose credibility is often challenged. He's not used to it. You saw that if you watched Alan Jackson's cross of him last week. He really doesn't know how to act when someone accuses him of being sloppy or worse. He got testy and defensive then and the judge's ruling is 100Xs worse than Jackson's cross.

Question from tribe: Why is so much emphasis put on Dr Lee supposedly finding the fingernail...and not on why the police missed it?

Harriet Ryan: That's an excellent point. The CSI guys said they didn't get down on their hands and knees. We know that the criminalist in the sheriff's department lab was scouring every piece of evidence brought to her looking for that piece of acrylic nail, but she wasn't the one doing the actual search. There was a lot of white stuff on the floor of the foyer because the ceiling was rotting or caving in or something -- this is long before the shooting -- and flecks of white stuff were falling onto the red carpet. It's possible that this little white object was mixed in with those or wedged between the carpet and the stairs.

Question from tribe: Isn't that like admitting they did not do their jobs...when CSI guys said they did not get on their hands and knees?

Harriet Ryan: Everyone's a critic... I don't really know how to answer that. We have to go back and put ourselves in the mindset of the investigators on Feb. 4, 2003. What did they think was important then? Certainly, they didn't need to pick up every stray thread and piece of ceiling on the floor. But yes, if this was the fingernail, they missed a piece of evidence that prosecutors say could have single-handedly won the case for them. And you know, that's something I wouldn't want on my performance review.

Question from kiara: Harriet, it seems very unusual that Henry Lee would not keep Fed Ex receipts for crime scene evidence he sent....what say you?

Harriet Ryan: That was an interesting exchange with Jackson. He said he kept the tracking bill, but gave it to an assistant and didn't bring it with him to LA, is that right? You guys are paying too close attention. You're testing me. But anyhow, he definitely became flustered when asked about how organized he was when it came to his private consulting cases -- as opposed to ones for the CT state police. For those of you who've sat through chain of custody testimony, it's hard to imagine that a renowned expert like Lee wouldn't have very clear, verifiable records of everything he did with death scene evidence. His defense for what seemed like sloppiness was that he hadn't collected the carpet sample in question so he didn't really consider it evidence.

Question from Mark: Hi Harriet, why do you think this judge is taking Kaplan's credibility over Dr. Lee's?

Harriet Ryan: She has no reason to lie and he does. Sara Caplan didn't want to testify. A defense attorney doesn't want to tell case secrets to a judge and a prosecutors. If you missed it or even if you didn't, go back and watch her first appearance on the stand. It is very, very interesting -- the judge said yesterday that anyone who witnessed it got "whiplash." Basically because she started out as a strong defense witness. She didn't pick anything up She didn't see any tooth. She understands her ethical obligations. Blah, blah. And then Alan Jackson just happens on cross to stumble on the right question, there's a long dramatic pause and then Caplan spills it: Henry Lee found something. She only said it because AJ happened upon -- it seemed like an accident -- a question so specific that her choices were perjury or tell on her colleague. And she told. And what she told was detailed. She remembered finding the white object. She remembered leaning over it. She remembered Lee picking it up with tweezers and putting it in a clear vial. What possible reason could she have making up this testimony against a man who she had worked with in the past and who she liked?

Question from tribe: So won't it all come down to the fact the CSI did not do their job...rather than lee's credibility?

Harriet Ryan: No. I don't think so. I mean, yeah, CSI doesn't come out smelling like roses, but overlooking something is one thing, destroying evidence is another.

Court TV Host: We're going to be taking a short break...

Harriet Ryan: Gah. I have to take a call and interview someone. I will BRB

***

Court TV Host: Thanks, Harriet.

Court TV Host: Hello everyone!

Harriet Ryan: Sorry for that.

Court TV Host: Courttv.com's Harriet Ryan is back with us.

Harriet Ryan: Sorry about that guys.

Court TV Host: We were in the middle of a question...I think...

Court TV Host: Tribe had asked:

Question from tribe: So won't it all come down to the fact the CSI did not do their job...rather than lee's credibility?

Court TV Host: And you answered:

Harriet Ryan: No. I don't think so. I mean, yeah, CSI doesn't come out smelling like roses, but overlooking something is one thing, destroying evidence is another.

Harriet Ryan: Right. Keep in mind that Dr. Lee is their star forensic witness and science is Spector's best hope for an acquittal. Now, the prosecutor is going to say, you can't take the word of this guy about blood spatter because he has concealed or destroyed evidence. He's a scoundrel. False in one false in all. And the defense is going to have to fight for his credibility. And the fight will distract from his scientific testimony.

Question from Lexi-Atl: Did you think there was some payback going on after the way Dr. Lee trashed forensic collection techniques during the OJ trial ?

Harriet Ryan: By Judge Fidler? No way. And even the prosecutors didn't want this, it was brought upon them when Greg Diamond called them and tried to break attorney-client privilege.

Question from tribe: Why would the prosecution think that finding Lana's fingernail could prove this was a suicide? That makes no sense to me. The thinking goes like this. Part of LC's fake nail on her right thumb was missing. A private investigator, Stan White, said he saw Lee with part of a fingernail that had blood and "bullet wipe" on it. The prosecution criminalist said that if there was soft lead -- the "bullet wipe" -- on the nail it would mean LC's right thumb was near the barrel of the gun when it discharged. If her thumb was in her mouth, then it wasn't on the trigger. Got it?

Question from Lexi-Atl: Is the fact that Robert Shapiro is having to sue Spector for payment, likely to cast doubt on his testimony, since it appears there is some friction there?

Harriet Ryan: They settled the suit, but yeah, I guess it would go to motive if/when Shapiro testifies.

Question from Dunvegan: Anyone think CSI was intimidated by the "Dream Defense Experts" standing outside on the Castle doorsteps? Could that contributed to their unfortunate rush to finish, thereby overlooking one piece of evidence?

Harriet Ryan: I don't know if I'd call it a rush. They were there all day. I wonder when they knew that Lee & Baden were on the case. They weren't asked that when they testified.

Question from kk: Will the defense still call Lee and risk his incompetence being bandied about again in front of the jury?

Harriet Ryan: Yes. Yesterday they said they absolutely would.

Question from kiara: Harriet welcome back....who might be the defense's strongest witness now that Henry lee's testimony is questionable?

Harriet Ryan: Baden maybe? And frankly, this Lee stuff might well turn out to inside baseball. Juries love Lee. Anyone who covers his cases knows he always tells the same joke ("You white people all look alike to me!") and has impeccable credentials and an endearing accent but for jurors it's new every time. Hmm...except this time there's a Dateline producer on the jury. Oh well. Time will tell.

Court TV Host: Those in the chat room mostly feel differently...

Question from JERRY: Harriet: How will Henry Lee ever be able to get on the stand again in any case and have anyone take him seriously?

Question from Sailor: Will this hurt Dr. Lee's reputation and credibility?

Question from Cortaid: Harriet....Will this hurt Dr. Lee's credibility in future cases? Will we be seeing him at local malls and state fairs with Sanjaya?

Harriet Ryan: I've been talking to people about that today. And one prosecutor who has used Lee in the past reminded me that Lee made a gaffe in the OJ trial -- he mistook a shoeprint in the cement of the sidewalk for a second killer's print, (I think that was it, I need to dust off the year 1995) and he testified for the defense in the Michael Peterson case. And you know, no one held either of those against him. He still is the most famous forensic scientist in the country.

Court TV Host: And, speaking of past trials...

Question from Dunvegan: In light of Judge Fidler's ruling regarding the credibility of Dr. Lee in the Spector trial, do you anticipate that Dr. Lee's expert testimony in past trials (where defendants were convicted in part due to Dr. Lee's testimony) may be used as a basis for new trials?

Harriet Ryan: No. Sorry to disappoint many inmates, but no. This is one incident that Lee disputes. There's gotta be a pattern before that would ever happen and we don't have anything like that here.

Question from tribe: Don't you think all this emphasis on Dr Lee is a defense strategy that's been planned well in advance? I mean, this exact issue was part of preliminary hearings...and takes attention away from the actual crime itself.

Harriet Ryan: I agree that we are all talking about Dr. Lee instead of Spector, but...we're not talking about him in a good way.

Court TV Host: Any closing thoughts?

Harriet Ryan: We talked about LEE the whole time and not the chauffeur. How do you say, "What a shame in Portuguese"? Dang.

Court TV Host: Thanks, Harriet! > Come back soon.

Harriet Ryan: Bye, guys! Sorry about the phone call.

Court TV Host: That's the life of a reporter!