Spector's defense targets witness's English-language ability
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The defense in Phil Spector's murder trial sought to show Monday that his immigrant chauffeur spoke English poorly and was so frightened after learning that someone had been shot to death that he wrongly implicated the music producer.

Adriano De Souza, a Brazilian chauffeur whose native language is Portuguese, testified that Spector came out of his home about 5 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2003, with a gun in his hand and said, "I think I killed somebody," as the body of actress Lana Clarkson lay slumped in a chair inside the mansion's foyer.

Defense attorney Bradley Brunon, during a long cross-examination, noted that De Souza originally told officers that morning that Spector had said, "I think I shot somebody."


"No," De Souza replied.

Although he couldn't explain why he'd changed his statement from "shot" to "killed," he was adamant that he had heard Spector speak clearly.

De Souza conceded that he was tired and hungry, as well as frightened, after hearing what he thought was a gunshot and then seeing Clarkson's body with blood on her face.

"It's hard to see and hear exactly when something is so frightening, isn't it?" Brunon asked.

"Yes, a little bit," De Souza said.

Clarkson, best known for the 1985 film Barbarian Queen, was working as a hostess in a VIP room at the House of Blues when she met Spector shortly before 2 a.m. on the morning of her death.

De Souza, who has testified that he drove Spector to a series of restaurants from Beverly Hills to the Sunset Strip, said Clarkson initially refused when Spector asked her to go home with him, then decided to join him for a drink.

The defense claims Clarkson shot herself.

The chauffeur said he was operating on little sleep before going to work for Spector at 7 p.m. the night before. He said he took small naps in the car throughout the evening.

"When you dream, do you dream in the Portuguese language or in the English language?" Brunon suddenly asked De Souza.

Prosecutor Alan Jackson objected on grounds the question assumed facts not in evidence and was irrelevant. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler interrupted and spoke directly to De Souza.

"Do you dream, sir?" the judge asked.

De Souza said his dreams were in Portuguese and English.

Brunon suggested during questioning that De Souza's current abilities in English are better now than they were at the time of the killing.



Spector, a music producer, rose to fame in the 1960s and '70s, transforming rock music with what became known as the "Wall of Sound" recording technique. He worked with such stars as the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, and produced solo albums by John Lennon and George Harrison.

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Phil Spector listens to his former driver, Adriano De Souza, during cross examination at Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.
By Damian Dovarganes, Reuters