Witness not fluent in English, says Spector lawyers

Phil Spector's defence team today tried to show that the prosecution's key witness had trouble understanding English.

Brazilian immigrant chauffeur Adriano De Souza, whose native language is Portuguese, has testified that the famed music producer came out of his home on the morning of February 3 2003 with a gun in his hand and said "I think I killed somebody" as actress Lana Clarkson's body lay slumped in a chair in the mansion's foyer.

Spector denies murder and his defence team claims Clarkson shot herself.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Bradley Brunon, the chauffeur said he had been up at 6am the previous day, worked until 11am and slept several hours before getting a call at 4.30pm to go to work for Spector at 7pm.

In the course of that night, he took small naps in the car, De Souza said.

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

"Portuguese and English," De Souza eventually answered. Brunon then suggested that De Souza's current English abilities are better now than they were more than four years ago at the time of the death.

Clarkson, best known for a role in the 1985 film Barbarian Queen, was working as a hostess at the House of Blues when she met Spector shortly before 2am on February 3 2003.

Spector 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 and the Righteous Brothers and produced solo albums by John Lennon and George Harrison.