LOS ANGELES — A former attorney for Phil Spector moved a step closer to jail on contempt charges Monday after an appellate court said it would not interfere with a judge's attempt to force her to testify about missing evidence at the music legend's murder trial.

A panel of justices from the state Court of Appeal's 2^nd district denied Sara Caplan's appeal without explanation just hours after she filed it. The court also turned back a similar appeal by lawyers for Spector.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler said he would give Caplan until Thursday afternoon to take her case to the state Supreme Court. If the high court justices do not act by then, Fidler said, "she is to be present in court and she is to be prepared to go into custody."

Caplan, who has said attorney-client privilege and a defense lawyer's ethical obligations prevent her from testifying, was not present when Fidler outlined the timeline.

The appellate maneuvering came as jurors at Spector's trial first heard testimony about evidence allegedly destroyed or hidden by famed criminalist Dr. Henry Lee. The issue of a small object that apparently vanished from the scene of an actress's death during a defense search of Spector's mansion has been the subject of numerous hearings, arguments and decisions since the trial began in April, but all of those proceedings occurred outside the jury's presence.

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A prosecutor introduced jurors to the allegation against Lee Thursday as he questioned Lynne Herald, a sheriff's department criminalist and the expected final witness in the prosecution's case in chief. Prosecutors had attempted to call Caplan to the stand last week to give her account of seeing Lee collect a piece of evidence from the mansion foyer. Lee has denied all wrongdoing.

With Caplan's testimony still uncertain, Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson asked Herald to evaluate "a hypothetical" involving observations made by a former lawyer for the defense.

"Just assume her name is Sara Caplan," Jackson said.

The scenario he laid out mirrored Caplan's claim that she saw Lee recover a "small, white, flat, solid object with uneven edges ... the size of a fingernail" and place it in a vial.

The object "was last seen in Dr. Lee's possession and has not been seen since," he said.

Jurors, many of whom had struggled to stay awake during a lengthy cross-examination of Herald, appeared intrigued by the mention of Lee and missing evidence. Several panelists scribbled in their notebooks and others leaned forward in their seats.

Jackson asked Herald if having access to the white object would have helped her reconstruct the shooting death of Lana Clarkson.

"Maybe and maybe not," she said.

Prosecutors maintain the item was a fragment of an acrylic nail from Clarkson's thumb and may have conclusively proved that she did not kill herself as the defense insists.

Herald, however, said only that the item "could have" been important.

If Caplan continues to refuse to testify, prosecutors plan to read jurors her testimony from a May hearing.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case Tuesday morning. Spector's defense will begin calling witnesses immediately although the judge has said he will likely interrupt their case when there is a decision on Caplan's testimony.