LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors rested their case against Phil Spector Monday with testimony from a detective who said Dr. Henry Lee never handed over a potentially important piece of evidence he allegedly removed from the scene of an actress's shooting.

Rich Tomlin, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detective leading the investigation into Lana Clarkson's 2003 death, told jurors that he cataloged the evidence Lee provided to prosecutors as required by law. None of it matched the item in question. (VIDEO)

The prosecution contends Lee hid or destroyed a piece of Clarkson's thumbnail he found in the music legend's mansion after the crime scene unit had left.

"Did you ever receive anything that might be described as a small, white solid item, about the size of a thumbnail, that was flat and had uneven edges?" Deputy District Attorney Pat Dixon asked.

"No," Tomlin said.

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The conclusion of the prosecution's case, which began April 26, came almost a month after the defense began presenting its case. The overlap in cases was caused by the issue of the missing evidence.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler allowed prosecutors to leave their case open as a former lawyer for Spector fought the judge's order to testify about Lee. After the state Supreme Court turned down her appeal, defense attorney Sara Caplan testified that she saw Lee place an item from Spector's foyer in a vial.

Although the issue of the missing evidence has occupied many days of court time since the trial began, the vast majority of it has played out at special hearings outside the jury's presence.

Before Tomlin's testimony, only two of the government's 35 witnesses had mentioned the missing object in front of the jury: Caplan and a criminalist who described its possible importance in determining whether Clarkson's death was a homicide or suicide.

The choice of Tomlin as the final witness appeared to be the prosecution's attempt to emphasize what they describe as serious misconduct by one of the country's best-known forensic scientists.

Under questioning by Dixon, Tomlin described to jurors the reciprocal discovery duties of both sides in a criminal case.

"There is an evidentiary rule where the prosecution and defense counselors are obligated under law to exchange evidence and allow the other party to review that evidence," he said.

"And that's an important responsibility," suggested the prosecutor.

"Yes," Tomlin agreed.

Lee has denied that he ever collected the evidence. It is unclear whether he will testify for the defense. A lawyer for Spector touted his expertise in her opening statement, but Lee told the Associated Press earlier this month that he no longer wants to appear at the trial where his credibility has been attacked.

The defense is to ask Fidler to dismiss all charges Tuesday. A motion for a judgment of acquittal is standard practice following the conclusion of the prosecution's case. The defense argues that the prosecution has failed to produce the minimal evidence for a case to go to a jury. Such motions are rarely successful.