Posted on 02/06/2003 3:57:00 PM PST by Jaded
SAN DIEGO – The District Attorney's Office spent nearly $270,000 prosecuting David Westerfield, including thousands for DNA analysis and expert witnesses, it was announced today.
Westerfield was sentenced to die for the February 2002 killing of 7-year- old Danielle van Dam.
The former Sabre Springs resident and neighbor of the victim is now on death row at San Quentin.
According to figures the District Attorney's Office released, more than $35,000 was spent on experts for Westerfield's trial, and more than $146,000 on DNA analysis.
More than $62,000 was spent on a telephone survey and a jury questionnaire review.
Here's the article if you don't want to go there.
SAN DIEGO – The District Attorney's Office spent nearly $270,000 prosecuting David Westerfield, including thousands for DNA analysis and expert witnesses, it was announced today.Westerfield was sentenced to die for the February 2002 killing of 7-year- old Danielle van Dam.
The former Sabre Springs resident and neighbor of the victim is now on death row at San Quentin.
According to figures the District Attorney's Office released, more than $35,000 was spent on experts for Westerfield's trial, and more than $146,000 on DNA analysis.
More than $62,000 was spent on a telephone survey and a jury questionnaire review.
The total cost -- call it a million bucks, give or take -- doesn't seem excessive. Some of the individual lines do seem rather high, however.
It's interesting that some of our Freepers still won't give it up. The guy is guilty.
It's also interesting that Mudd won't release the cost of Westerfield's defense. It would seem like that's a basic "public right to know" item.
I have a crime story from Virginia I may post tomorrow. Things posted at this hour often seem to get lost.
15 Q. Sir, having read that document, did that now 16 refresh your recollection as to a portion of your interview 17 with officer Redden?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. It's correct, is it not then, that officer Redden 20 was asking you questions concerning your activities on the 21 night of February 1st, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And he specifically asked you whether you were 24 drinking anything that night; isn't that true?
25 A. Yes.
26 Q. And you told him you had two beers with dinner 27 and you thought you had one more playing video games; isn't 28 that right?
page break
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Then he asked you whether or not you had any 3 drugs that night, didn't he?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And you said no, didn't you?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. That wasn't true, was it?
8 A. No.
So Damon lied to the "lie detector" interviewer, Redden...wonder if Damon passed the test?
luke?? John??
Savage testimony(by Clark) about gathering carpet samples from DvD's bedroom on the 5th. of Feb. (2nd. evidence search)
If Savage just sat in the middle of the room and plucked carpet fibers how did she miss the shell casing? Or did she? Did she just consider it not revelant to the missing Danielle? At this point in the investigation how could they know what was and what wasn't revelant to a missing Danielle? Especially Savage,an evidence gatherer.
21 A. No. I saw the blood in the doorway to the 22 garage, and the drag marks further south along the sidewalk 23 on the same side of the house.
24 Q. I'm sorry. You said along the sidewalk; is that 25 right?
26 A. Right. The sidewalk behind the gate along the 27 side of the house.
28 Q. Okay. With regard to the blood 408 1 stains -- I'm sorry -- with regard to the possible 2 blood stain that we just identified as 1 on the chart I 3 showed you, I forgot to ask you whether you did a Hemastix 4 test.
5 A. I did not.
6 Q. Did anybody, to your knowledge, attempt to 7 determine whether or not that red spot that was three 8 inches in length was blood?
9 A. Not to my knowledge.
Blood in the garage of a missing girl's home is not tested?
SDPD is either corrupt or incompetant. I personally think they are corrupt, but either way this exchange definitely shows a pattern of ignoring evidence AT THE CRIME SCENE (along with the shell casing, drag marks and unidentified print and dna IN THE GIRL'S ROOM).
BY NOAH BIERMAN
nbierman@herald.com
Four years after masked sheriff's deputies exposed Broward County's salacious swinging subculture to a national audience, the men and women in the clubs are suing the raiders of the private clubs.
''They were subject to numerous newspaper articles. They were subject to notoriety that they didn't bring to themselves,'' said Daniel Aaronson, part of a legal team representing two couples arrested in the raids. ``They believe they were wrongly arrested and their lives were put in disarray for no reason.''
Lawyers have filed a total of five lawsuits, on behalf of 10 people, against the Broward Sheriff's Office or individual deputies involved in raiding two swingers' clubs in January and February of 1999. The consenting adults want money for the humiliation they suffered. Three of the suits were filed within the past five weeks and all but one is in federal court.
The men and women are among 55 club patrons and employees arrested on lewdness charges by masked deputies carrying automatic weapons. None was found guilty of a crime and most of those arrested had their cases dropped by prosecutors.
Still, the arrests helped Jay Leno add a few jokes to his opening monologue. They gave 48 Hours viewers a scintillating reminder of the go-go 1970s, Broward County-style. And they created a stir in South Florida workplaces, forcing some people to leave jobs, accept transfers or avert stares.
Among the plaintiffs: Tonya Whyte, who claims she was put on administrative leave from her teaching job and that the state tried to decertify her. The plaintiffs also include Raymond Lynette Hall, both in law enforcement at the time of the arrests.
Teams of sheriffs deputies raided two clubs four years ago -- Trapeze II in Fort Lauderdale and Athena's Forum in Pompano Beach -- using undercover officers who wore towels and watched men and women take their clothes off and perform sexual acts.
Four of the 10 people suing admit they had sexual contact in the clubs.
Their lawsuits claim deputies made false arrests, because a judge ruled that someone other than a police officer has to be offended by allegedly lewd behavior to make it a crime. One couple, Lloyd and Alyse List, claim their rights were violated when deputies searched their personal belongings, including a locker assigned to Lloyd List.
Sheriff Ken Jenne's public information office was closed Monday and there was no comment from BSO about the lawsuits. After the raids, in a July 2000 interview, he said they were ordered by a subordinate without his knowledge.
The sheriff's office had conducted a similar raid in 1997, arresting 17 people at a club called Pickles. Two patrons sued the sheriff's office and settled for $5,000 and $6,000.
The 1999 raids became a cause celebre for the swinger culture, with a report in Playboy magazine and chatter on the Internet. Trapeze owner Alan Mostow's story was featured in a Hustler magazine story titled ``Revenge of the Florida Swingers.''
Beverly Pohl and Bruce Rogow, representing Jenne and the deputies, say the current batch of claims do not amount to false arrests. The deputies who made the arrests had probable cause to believe the men and women were breaking the law, Pohl said.
Although some of the plaintiffs denied sexual activity, officers consistently and explicitly described sexual activity in every case, she said. And even if they weren't engaging in sex, being in a lewd club is enough probable cause for an arrest, Rogow said.
Pohl and Rogow make an especially ironic defense team for the sheriff.
In the early 1990s, they sparred with former Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro over the rap act 2 Live Crew, whose performances and records were labeled obscene by the former sheriff. Rogow sided with the rap group back then.
Pohl said this case is different: ``We made an assessment and felt that the sheriff has the better legal argument.''
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