LOS ANGELES — A former law clerk for famed defense attorney Robert Shapiro accused Phil Spector's legal team Wednesday of hiding a piece of evidence found at the scene of an actress's death.

In a special hearing before the judge presiding over the pop music producer's murder trial, the former clerk said a coterie of defense attorneys and experts, including renowned forensic scientists Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Henry Lee, were in the pop music producer's foyer the day after the shooting when a lawyer spotted a "quite small" white object in the carpet that the police had overlooked. (VIDEO)

He said Baden, a pathologist, examined the item and announced to the "excited" group that it was a fragment of a tooth. The former clerk, Gregory Diamond, said he did not know what became of the evidence.

No tooth fragment was turned over to authorities as the law requires, and the coroner has said that all of the victim's teeth were accounted for.

Spector's defense vigorously disputed the testimony of Diamond, who now works as a writer and television producer. They suggested he had concocted a lie to profit off the high-profile trial, and they flew Baden in from New York to dispute his account.

In a brief turn on the witness stand, the pathologist insisted the incident never occurred and said he did not even remember Diamond's presence at Spector's house. Baden, who is married to one of Spector's attorneys, Linda Kenney-Baden, said he had never been accused of manipulating evidence.

"In my 47 years, this is the first time that issue has ever been raised," he said.

Dr. Michael Baden said he had never been accused of hiding evidence.

The hearing into the allegations is to continue Thursday morning. Jurors are not due back in court until Monday because of the illness of lead defense counsel Bruce Cutler. Spector was not present for the accusations against his lawyers, having waived his presence at the hearing.

The allegations of secretly recovered evidence have dogged Spector since 2003, when Lana Clarkson was killed in his home. They persisted through three legal teams, of which Shapiro was the first. In the past, the allegations concerned a fingernail supposedly found after crime scene technicians departed. Spector's lawyers have always maintained they had no evidence to surrender

According to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler, the latest round of allegations began two weeks, ago when Diamond phoned prosecutors saying he had relevant evidence.

During this time, Diamond also contacted The Smoking Gun, which is owned by Court TV.

The deputy district attorneys assigned to the case immediately notified the judge, expressing concerns about possible violations of attorney-client privilege. Diamond graduated from law school, but is not a member of the bar and never practiced.

Fidler said in court Wednesday that, as a result of the prosecution's call, the Los Angeles Police Department had investigated Diamond's claims and the judge had appointed a special master, Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, to decide whether any information Diamond provided could be given to the prosecution.

Fidler said Levenson concluded that most of what Diamond said was protected. The exception, she determined, were his claims about the tiny piece of white evidence.

Summoned to the stand to testify about his allegations, Diamond became hesitant. A lawyer representing him, Gerald Werksman, said he felt it was not in his client's best interest to testify, but the judge said Diamond was not facing any criminal charges and could not assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.