WITH VIDEO
With the jury completing its eighth day of deliberations without a veredict in the kidnap-murder trial of David Westerfield, the judge in the case has denied a media request to unseal transcripts of closed hearings. Posted on 08/19/2002 4:16:26 PM PDT by FresnoDA
August 19, 2002
WITH VIDEOWith the jury completing its eighth day of deliberations without a veredict in the kidnap-murder trial of David Westerfield, the judge in the case has denied a media request to unseal transcripts of closed hearings.
The motion before Superior Court Judge William Mudd was filed by Guylyn Cummings, the attorney who represents the San Diego Union-Tribune and other media companies.
During the trial, a number of hearings were held outside of public view. Mudd denied the motion, reasoning that the jury was continuing to deliberate in the case and to ensure that "this deliberating jury is not exposed to any more publicity than they're already exposed to."
The jury should be free of a "deluge" of items that were not allowed in the trial, the judge said.
"I don't need the headaches," Mudd said, referring to seeing stories about the closed hearings in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Mudd lashed out after an editorial in Saturday's Union-Tribune criticized his decision to banish a radio producer from the trial because the station she worked for aired the contents of a closed hearing.
The judge said he "had no idea" that he was the "Saddam Hussein" of the First Amendment in San Diego. The editorial, titled "Judge's overreach," does not mention Saddam Hussein or make allusions to the Iraqui leader. Read the full editorial here.
He said making the sealed transcripts public would cause prejudice that would be "hard to compute."
Mudd said he had no reason to believe that the media would use good judgment in reporting the contents of the closed hearings if it were to be released.
"What the public has heard is what the jurors have heard," the judge said.
Back to work
The jury returned to the San Diego County Courthouse in an attempt to decide the fate of the man accused of killing Danielle van Dam.
In all, Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography in connection with the death of the 7-year-old.
As of this morning, jurors had deliberated about 31 hours over seven days.
The twice-divorced, self-employed design engineer could face the death penalty if the jury convicts him of killing his Sabre Springs neighbor and finds true a special circumstance allegation that the second-grader's murder occurred during a kidnapping.
Brenda van Dam discovered her daughter missing from her bed the morning of Feb. 2.
On Friday, the jury asked for a readback of the testimony of San Diego County Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne and insect expert David Faulkner.
Blackbourne and Faulkner were among a group of witnesses who testified about how insects found on the child's body could help determine when she had been dumped off an East County road near Dehesa.
Faulkner, a forensic entomologist, found 14 insect species on the girl's body when he examined it at the East County recovery site.
The witness testified that fly larvae first infested the body 10-12 days before volunteer searchers discovered it on Feb. 27.
On cross-examination by prosecutors, Faulkner conceded that he could not give a maximum time Danielle's body was exposed to the elements. Blackbourne testified that the body was in an advanced state of decomposition and that animals had been feeding on it.
He testified that Danielle died between Feb. 1 and Feb. 18.
Other experts testified that insects infested the body as little as four days before it was discovered to six weeks earlier.
Jurors also have asked for readback of the testimony of San Diego police criminalist Jennifer Shen when she was recalled to answer questions about orange fibers that allegedly link Westerfield to the victim.
Shen testified that orange fibers found wrapped in Danielle's choker matched orange fibers found in Westerfield's laundry. More orange fibers were found on a pillow case in the defendant's master bedroom.
During her second time on the witness stand, Shen acknowledged that if she had known that witnesses at a Poway bar said Westerfield and Danielle's mother had been ``dirty dancing,'' it would have influenced her evaluation of the fiber evidence.
Shen also told prosecutors that the amount of orange fibers found in Westerfield's SUV, home and motorhome made it unlikely the fibers were transferred from a third party.
Jurors also have reviewed the pornographic evidence in the case and asked to look at photographs that Westerfield had taken of his ex-girlfriend's teen- age daughter. Prosecutors told the jury that one photo of the daughter lying by the pool was sexually suggestive.
Jurors also listened again to a taped interview the defendant gave to a police interrogation specialist on Feb. 4.
Nearly 100 witnesses were called during the two-month trial.
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.
PS..I can't believe you would even think of us "briefly" at the old 19th Hole...liar :~)
sw
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.
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
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
They are playing ball with some real trouble.
sw
sw
Yep, Brown hair, 6 foot tall, green eyes. Good description of David Westerf.. Danieele van Dam.
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.
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