LOS ANGELES — Lawyers for Phil Spector said Tuesday they have pared a half-dozen people from their witness list, including the music legend himself and two prominent forensic experts, and as a result, will wrap up the defense case more than a week earlier than expected.

The defense could call its final witness as soon as Wednesday, but will not formally rest until Aug. 9, when the jurors weighing murder charges against Spector are scheduled to tour the mansion where an actress was shot to death.

In addition to Spector, whose lawyers confirmed long-standing suspicion that he would not take the stand in his own defense, those eliminated as potential witnesses include two well-known forensic pathologists retained as defense experts, Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Cyril Wecht.

A defense attorney said Spector's legal team had decided not to call Baden, who was in Los Angeles and prepared to testify, after the judge presiding over the trial ruled Tuesday that evidence related to a "psychological autopsy" of the actress, Lana Clarkson, was inadmissible. The defense planned to present testimony that authorities had not followed through on discussions to carry out such an autopsy, but according to lawyer Christopher Plourd, the judge deemed the information irrelevant during a sidebar conference.

Plourd said the ruling made it pointless to call Baden and several other witnesses from the county coroner's office. He said Wecht was dropped for other reasons.

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Spector contends Clarkson, 40, shot herself in the mouth in the foyer of his palatial home Feb. 3, 2003. The prosecution maintains the 67-year-old producer shot her after she curtailed what he hoped would be a romantic evening.

Much of Spector's trial has been a scientific battle with a deputy medical examiner ruling the death a homicide and two pathologists for the defense calling it a suicide.

Plourd said the defense, which includes Baden's wife, Linda Kenney-Baden, was comfortable not calling the other pathologists.

"We called two. They put on one," he said.

The testimony of a third famous expert witness, criminalist Dr. Henry Lee, remains in question. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler denied a defense request that Lee's testimony from a May hearing be read to jurors in lieu of him taking the stand.

Dr. Henry Lee, in court in May, is currently touring China.

Lee is currently on a two-week speaking tour of China. Before embarking on the trip, he told The Associated Press that he did not want to testify in the proceeding because of Fidler's conclusion that he hid or destroyed a piece of evidence while scouring the death scene. In the interview, Lee said it was unnecessary for him to testify because other defense experts had reached the same conclusions.

"I don't think my testimony will make or break the case," he told the Associated Press.

Defense attorney Bradley Brunon argued that Lee was unavailable because he was in a foreign country at the time when the defense wanted to put him on the stand.

"He is beyond any jurisdiction that we can get him back here in a timely manner," Brunon said.

The judge cited Lee's comments in the press interview and said he did not believe that the defense showed due diligence in attempting to get the expert to return.

"You knew he was leaving the country. We cannot interfere with his schedule? Yes, you can. Anytime," he said, adding, "This trip does not take precedence over this trial."

The judge said the defense could wait until Lee returns next week and call him to the stand then.

After court, Plourd said the defense has not decided whether Lee will testify.

The defense will call four witnesses Wednesday, including two computer experts, a prosecution investigator and Spector's daughter, Nicole. She is expected to confirm that her father is right handed, a minor issue in the proceeding.

Prosecutors are to begin their rebuttal case Wednesday. They have said they will offer two or three days of testimony aimed at refuting the defense.

Eyeing the conclusion of the case, the judge asked Bruce Cutler, the attorney who started the trial as Spector's lead counsel, if he still intended to give the closing argument. Cutler missed about a month of the trial to film a television judge show, "Jury Duty."

Cutler, who will begin a second extended absence from the trial Wednesday to return to filming, said he was. (VIDEO)

The judge said he was concerned that his absence might become an appeals issue, as a similar situation did in the trial of a follower of Charles Manson. Addressing Spector, the judge said, "You are saying this is OK with you."

The defendant replied in a rasp, "I'll discuss that [with Cutler]."