LOS ANGELES — A judge found a former attorney for Phil Spector in contempt of court Monday for refusing to testify at the music legend's murder trial about a piece of evidence allegedly missing from the scene of an actress's death.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler ordered the attorney, Sara Caplan, jailed after a dramatic hearing in which she cried as she repeatedly declined to answer prosecutors' questions. (VIDEO)

Fidler immediately stayed the punishment to allow Caplan to remain free while she appeals his decision.

The judge set a Friday deadline for Caplan's attorneys to file paperwork at the Court of Appeal. He previously said he would allow Caplan, a veteran criminal defense attorney who worked for Spector's first legal team, to take the case to the state Supreme Court if necessary.

Caplan maintains that attorney-client privilege, as well as her ethical duty to her former client, prevent her from testifying against Spector. She asserted those beliefs when summoned to the witness stand.

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"Respectfully, your honor, I cannot answer the question in light of the constitutional and legal and ethical principles I have previously cited," Caplan said several times during her seven minutes on the stand.

The jury that has heard evidence against Spector for nine weeks was not in court for her appearance. Fidler said case law prohibited jurors from witnessing a refusal to testify if the judge knew in advance the witness would not cooperate.

Prosecutors planned to call Caplan as one of the final witnesses in their case in an attempt to discredit defense expert Dr. Henry Lee, who is described as the "linchpin" of the defense's case. She twice told the judge during a hearing last month that she saw Lee collect a small white piece of evidence from the scene of Lana Clarkson's shooting.

No such evidence was ever turned over to investigators, as required by law, and prosecutors claim the item in question was a fake fingernail fragment that may have conclusively disproved the defense theory of suicide.

Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson asked Caplan eight questions about what she saw in Spector's mansion Feb. 4, 2003. Each time, she replied that she could not answer without violating her principles.

Fidler had previously described the contempt process as complex, saying it required "every T crossed and every I dotted." He stuck closely to a script, warning her six separate times that no attorney-client privilege existed and she should answer the questions or face contempt charges.

Caplan responded to the reprimands in a voice that became increasingly shaky. By the end of the hearing, tears were streaming down her face.

After he excused her from the stand and found her in contempt, the judge, a former defense attorney, said, "I can certainly admire her for taking this stand on her principles, but there is a difference between admiring her and agreeing with her."

The judge reiterated his ruling that attorney-client privilege did not apply to information about hidden or destroyed evidence.