Mudd Denies Access To Transcripts As Well As Lineage To Hussein: Van Dams' Sex Life Still In Play!

Union Tribune ^ | August 19, 2002 | San Diego Tribune

[Krodg]

You asked to be removed and were told that you would be. Just because you were pinged, does not mean you have to stay. Just leave!!

[MizSterious]

"I asked not to be pinged to this list in the back room ."

You were not "pinged." Someone responded to a post YOU wrote in the backroom.

I know. Why not call the admin moderator? Wait. Now I remember. Responding to a post doesn't break any FR rules. Woopsies, guess you're out of luck.

[Tiger28]

Miz- if it is not too late please put me down for friday, the 23rd at 10am. i just know the verdict will come in just as i am leaving for a weekend away--and i will miss the nancy grace headspinning/fainting scene and, even worse, these FR threads- which have kept me sane since this trial began!

[MizSterious]

Sure thing. On the plus side, you won't have to see Nancy Grace do the pea soup spewing thing, either.

[MagnoliaMS]

I feel like spewing pea soup every time I see Nancy Grace.

[Jaded]

Hey Doc!!! Glad to hear you are enjoying the Cape.

Elsewhere it was stated that the reason the jacket and carpet was not photographed correctly is because the spots look like Q-tips. The carpet being a perpendicular placement and the jacket being a drag/smear.

Enjoy! See you when you get back.

j

[dread78645]

Dang. I'm sitting on the side of the pool. Where's my lawn chair ?
It's too early for a drink.

[spectre]

I'm not a jealous person by nature, Doc..but mentioning Cape Cod when the temp here in Arkansas is going to hit a humid 96 degrees, makes me very envious. (Beer and Lobster, (lots of butter and crackers)..Does life get any better than that! Patti Paige sang it well...YOU DOG YOU!!

PS..I can't believe you would even think of us "briefly" at the old 19th Hole...liar :~)

sw

[FresnoDA]

Judge's overreach

Proceedings marred by news-leak incident

August 17, 2002

After seven days of deliberations, the jury in the murder trial of David Westerfield appears to be engaged in a careful, methodical process of weighing the evidence. The proceedings were marred this week, however, when Superior Court Judge William Mudd permanently banished from the courtroom an assistant radio producer who said she had nothing to do with a news leak that angered the judge.

Mudd has done a commendable job of maintaining control in his courtroom and ensuring a fair trial amid frenzied media attention. But in reaching beyond the courtroom in a bid to control the news coverage, he overstepped his constitutional authority – and egregiously so.

Acknowledging he could be overturned by higher courts, the judge ejected producer River Stillwood, who was covering the trial for Rick Roberts, a radio talk show host.

Roberts provoked the judge's ire by broadcasting, through a confidential source, what had occurred in a hearing from which the judge had barred the press. The radio host made it very clear Stillwood was not involved in the leak.

What is alarming is that if Mudd is allowed to toss out one member of the news media arbitrarily, he can ban any or all journalists from his courtroom arbitrarily.

Nowhere in the Constitution, or California law, does it give a judge the right to retaliate against reporters because he doesn't like their coverage. He has absolutely no standing, as the First Amendment makes plain, to seek to silence critics outside the courthouse or otherwise infringe on freedom of speech or freedom of the press. Such public expression is protected by the Constitution whether it pleases Judge Mudd or not.

[FresnoDA]

Westerfield judge refuses to release transcripts

KIMBERLY EPLER
Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- Saying it could "lead to a mistrial," Judge William Mudd refused a media request Monday to release transcripts of closed-door hearings he held with attorneys in the David Westerfield case. The issue goes to the court of appeals.

Jurors are now deciding whether Westerfield, 50, is guilty of kidnapping and murdering his 7-year-old Sabre Springs neighbor, Danielle van Dam.

---

Pool Photo

Media attorney Guylyn Cummins, right, petitioned the court to release the transcripts of closed hearings in the trial of David Westerfield, Monday morning at the San Diego courthouse.

---

An attorney for several media outlets, including the North County Times, asked for copies of the court reporter's record of a series of meetings that took place behind closed doors before the trial, during the trial and since jurors received the case on Aug. 8.

Meanwhile, the panel of six men and six women spent Day 8 of deliberations rehearing testimony from the county medical examiner and a defense bug expert. The jurors went home early after one of them became ill.

Mudd and the media have gone several rounds over the constitutional right to have access to court hearings and related documents vs. a defendant's right to a fair trial. Almost every time, the press has lost. Monday was no exception.

"The overriding concern right now is that the jury be unhindered by a deluge of commentary on items that were not allowed in the trial," Mudd said.

Westerfield could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Danielle, who disappeared overnight from her second-story bedroom in early February. Her nude body was found nearly four weeks later under an oak tree in rural East County.

Mudd's rulings have left an information gap about how and why he made certain determinations on what evidence, testimony and theories attorneys on both sides of the Westerfield case were able to present to jurors. Also unclear is what kind of information has been kept out of the public realm.

The judge said his decisions to close the hearings and seal the transcripts were necessary to protect each side's right to a fair trial and to keep the jury from being overwhelmed by intense media coverage while they deliberate.

Mudd said some of the information could be harmful to parties in the case and, if disclosed, could "lead to a mistrial."

"The court can't rely on the discretion of the media," he said to a courtroom of media types and one or two members of the public.

Each day during the eight-week trial, Mudd admonished the jury not to pay attention to media coverage.

Westerfield's attorney, Robert Boyce, expressed frustration at having to deal with the media request while the defense team was in the midst of preparing to argue for Westerfield's life if the jury returns a guilty verdict.

Mudd has allowed gavel to gavel television and radio coverage of the trial and assigned 10 seats inside the courtroom to members of the press. He also has repeatedly refused requests from Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, to sequester the jury because of the intense media coverage.

Media attorney Guylyn R. Cummins said justices of the U.S. Supreme Courts have ruled the public has a right to see how the judicial system operates and what decisions the judges make ---- including information that never makes it into the courtroom.

"They've said the public and the press are entitled to see the full process," Cummins said. "They are entitled to see what was included and what was excluded."

Beyond closed hearings, Mudd has also sealed motions filed by attorneys, some of which he later released. Search warrants served on Westerfield's property were only released after an appeals court order.

Mudd spent six days behind closed doors listening to attorneys argue about what evidence should be presented at trial. Other motions were heard in open court. His rulings were made on the record. But there was no background on what attorneys originally wanted to present or keep from jurors.

"We need relief from the court of appeals to make sure this does not become the precedent in San Diego criminal cases," Cummins said.

Contact staff writer Kimberly Epler at (760) 739-6644 or kepler@nctimes.com.

8/20/02

[spectre]

Fatima, I AM A CATHOLIC and you are offending me by using Our Lady's name. You post garbage and make no sense when you say something...it's like you are posting from a mental ward somewhere? Are you delusional? Do you think you are the Virgin Mary?

Ask yourself, Fat...Would the Virgin Mary defend adultery, swinging, lesbian behavior? And pray tell, what part of the word VIRGIN do you not understand?

NOW, take your act and shove it, because you are one of the biggest phonies FR has ever seen.

Something is wrong with you.

sw

[FresnoDA]

Good day Lady FATima....

This is the new VD Pentagram Award.....

Your actions have given you this award, hands down....

Congratulations.....!!!

[FresnoDA]

BTT....

[spectre]

FR has been invaded by a certifiable left-wing religious whacko..And if they are too stupid over on the OTHER side to realize it, than they are dumber than I thought they were.

They are playing ball with some real trouble.

sw

[spectre]

Shudder, shudder, Fres. Now, that's an award worse than the 666. NO ONE wants to get the new VD Pentagram award....(sprinklin holy water on myself..

sw

[ItsOurTimeNow]

"I think her has HAS BEEN COLOR TREATED!

Compare this to earlier photos of her. METHINKS the BREN may be lying about this too.

Women on here can tell better than me. What do you think?"

---

I've thought that all along. Bren-duh herself says that Danielle's hair is brown when she made the 9-11 call.

Her own mother says she has brown hair, but everyone is making a big to-do about blonde hair? Go figure.

[dread78645]

Bren-duh herself says that Danielle's hair is brown when she made the 9-11 call.

Yep, Brown hair, 6 foot tall, green eyes. Good description of David Westerf.. Danieele van Dam.

[Mrs.Liberty]

Shudder, shudder, Fres. Now, that's an award worse than the 666. NO ONE wants to get the new VD Pentagram award....(sprinklin holy water on myself..

Ditto....where are my rosary beads?

[shezza]

For the Ping List and anyone who wants to join in:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord, grant these twelve jurors great wisdom to understand all the testimony they have heard over the past two months, and the clarity of mind to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Give them strength to endure, and fill them with a sense of honor and integrity, and the desire to do what is right.

May You shine the light of truth into the darkness of their confusion, that the jurors will discern honesty from those who bear false witness against their neighbor.

Although You say, "Vengeance is Mine," may You see fit to allow justice for Danielle here on this earth, that her death may not lead to the death of other innocents.

We pray that truth will prevail, and that the sword of justice will weigh heavily on those who would use it falsely to bring glory to themselves.

May Your will be done, in Jesus name.

Amen.

Pray for strength and guidance for all of the friends and families involved in this ordeal.

[hoosiermama]

Amen