Expect to hear more evidence about insects as the David Westerfield trial enters what could be the final week of testimony before jury deliberations. Posted on 07/28/2002 8:56:21 PM PDT by FresnoDA
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 28, 2002
Expect to hear more evidence about insects as the David Westerfield trial enters what could be the final week of testimony before jury deliberations.
On Tuesday, prosecutors are scheduled to call Dr. M. Lee Goff of the University of Hawaii as their final rebuttal witness in a trial that has lasted 23 court days. Goff is a forensic entomologist and the author of "A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes."
Whether Goff will be the final insect expert in the case – jurors have already heard from three witnesses with expert opinions about the behavior of insects on human remains – is unclear. Westerfield's lawyers have said they will take at least a day to present evidence to rebut the prosecution's rebuttal.
The trial will not be in session tomorrow because the lawyers and judge are scheduled to hash out the legal instructions that will be read to the jury after the close of testimony. The instructions guide jurors on the law to be applied in the case.
Given the time estimates of the lawyers, it seems likely that closing statements won't come until Thursday, or the following Monday at the earliest. So far there haven't been any Friday sessions in which the jury was present to hear testimony. The judge said the jury will deliberate Mondays through Fridays.
As the case winds down, the battle of the insect experts has emerged as perhaps the final arena in the murder trial. Westerfield's lawyers say the insects found on 7-year-old Danielle van Dam's body prove that it couldn't have been dumped until after Westerfield was under 24-hour police surveillance.
Danielle was reported missing from her home Feb. 2, and her body was found by volunteer searchers Feb. 27 in a remote area off Dehesa Road near the Singing Hills Golf Course in El Cajon.
The defense called two entomologists who testified about blowflies on the girl's body. Westerfield's lawyers say the experts' testimony proves that the remains couldn't have been dumped until mid-February. Westerfield was under constant police surveillance beginning Feb. 5.
The prosecution countered with a forensic anthropologist who said the body's extreme mummification might help explain why blowflies weren't able to access the remains immediately.
Westerfield, a self-employed design engineer who lived two doors from the van Dams in Sabre Springs, is accused of kidnapping and killing Danielle. He is also accused of possession of child pornography, which the prosecution claims shows that he had a sexual interest in girls.
Prosecutors said the pornography – some of it depicting violent sexual attacks against young girls – was found on Westerfield's computers and on computer disks stored on his office bookshelf.
In a trial of numerous shifts in momentum, legal experts say prosecutors scored a significant blow last week by calling Westerfield's son as a witness. Neal Westerfield, now 19, testified that the computer child pornography in the house was his father's, not his.
Earlier in the trial, the defense presented a computer expert who testified that Neal Westerfield might have been the person who downloaded some of the pornography.
"This is a young man who clearly cares about his dad and has a good relationship with him, so he has no reason to say anything bad," said Peter Liss, a Vista criminal defense lawyer. "He was just truthful."
In this respect, the defense's strategy of trying to blame the son for the child pornography in the house appears to have backfired. Criminal defense lawyer Robert Grimes said the jury is likely to view Neal Westerfield as "basically a nice young college kid" who testified honestly.
Westerfield's lawyers chose not to cross-examine his son. They will indicate this week whether they will call any witnesses to try to refute his testimony.
I wrote this. If you back up and read my posts you will see your questions were answered by my scenario. I would like to read your comments after reading them, thanks.
It would if you entered my 15 year olds room. There is no telling how old the stuff is on her floor.
I just did a google search and read 8 articles about the "Candyman" kiddy porn ring - not one mention of any missing or abducted children.
The reason I mentioned it is because of the involvment/arrest of 2 LE's in the San Diego area.
The Van Dam's seem to have many 'friends' in LE.
Maybe DW downloaded porn once time, and someone in LE had told Damon about it, as a friend. Then when Danielle disappeared, Damon was first choice. Maybe one of the 2 guys in LE that were arrested knew about Damon and the pizza parties (drugs,sex) and thought here is a bunch of fools I can take advantage of. What can they say if I kidnap/molest/kill their daughter. They will be caught "with their pants down", so to speak.
Those are my reasons for what I posted to you.
I also had theories where Damon was part of the OPERATION that is doing the stings. Where he is a good guy, but it is hard to buy that with the sex/drugs going on.
At this point I disagree. To try and connect him to an "alledged" child porn ring would be irresponsible not to mention grounds for appeal. The defense would only be able to introduce what they could prove directly.
Just starting. Do you have any rudimentary comments as opposed to rude ones ?
- Westerfield Team Calls Interrogation Improper (4-04-02)
- Westerfield trial judge firm, yet flexible (3-03-02)
- Account for Danielle's search still has $24,000 (3-31-02)
- Westerfield Trial Decisions Loom: Feldman faces basic questions on timing and venue of case. (3-26-02)
- Van Dams undecided on how $24,000 will be used (3-24-02)
- Westerfield to Stand Trial (3-22-02)
- Sex offender profiles (3-22-02)
- Westerfield trial judge firm, yet flexible (4-03-02)
- Westerfield arraignment at 1:30, VD press conference afterward
- Police tried to talk with Westerfield without his attorney
- Feldman's Questions: could it be Damon and Brenda van Dam's Private Lives (3-19-02)
- Van Dam neighbor had been focus for investigators almost from start
- Will Westerfield Face Death Penalty? (Van Dam trial update) (3-18-02)
- Danielle van Dam Earth Urn: (EBAY AUCTION REMOVED)
- Disquieting Disclosures: The Unbearable Sadness of the Danielle Van Dam Story
- Hearing closes with Danielle's parents' emotional testimony: (Van Dam Couple Shock San Diego)
- Parents drug use, sex lives steal focus: (Van Dam's reveal intimate details, more questions arise!)
- Douglas Pierce Responds To What He Saw Inside The Van Dam's House: And their shots at him about it!
- TRANSCRIPTS!! Brenda van Dam tells of partying night Danielle disappeared:(Post Updates)
- Van Dam's tell of events surrounding Danielle's disappearance: (Read their testimony,excerpted)
- BRENDA van Dam ON WITNESS STAND.....NOW!!
- She Led Him To Group Sex...Then He Killed Her And Their Sons: Aussie Version of van Dam case???
- Experts agree defense team for Westerfield has hard task
- Court Testimony: DNA, fingerprints from motor home link Westerfield to Danielle
- Van Dam Case: 4 computers, photos, rape, beastiality (3-12-02)
- Court Testimony: DNA, fingerprints from motor home link Westerfield to Danielle (3-12)
- Suspect in van Dam case had photos of another Danielle (3-12-02)
- David Westerfield, accused killer of Danielle van Dam, preliminary hearing ( 3/12/02 )
- Porn Found On Westerfield's PC's:On The Fly Transcripts Of The Westerfield/VD Case (3/12 UPDATE)
- Van Dam Case: scratched-up David Westerfield..overly cooperative (march 12)
- Officer: Westerfield nervous, his alibi strange (march 12)
- Officer describes scene where Danielle was found (Preliminary hearing) Posted on 3/11/02
- Running transcripts of Van Dam hearing: SDPD describes scene where Danielle was found! (Graphic) Published: March 11, 2002 Author: Jeffrey J. Rose
- DA Selects 'A' Team For The Danielle van Dam Killing Case: Westerfield appears today for arraignment March 11, 2002
- SDPD Takes Heat For Attempt At Interview : Contact with Westerfield called shocking(van Dam suspect) March 8, 2002
- Police tried to talk with Westerfield without his attorney! March 6, 2002
- Clearing Of Memorial in Dehesa Angers Some Mourners: van Dam's friends moved memorial items. March 5, 2002
- Van Dam Residence Photos, Close up analysis of Americas Most Wanted Website Information! March 5, 2002
- Seven-Year-Old Girl Escapes Kidnapper in Grand Terrace: (Eerie similarity to Van Dam Case)
- Danielle's Parents Speak Out: Brenda and Damon van Dam Update: 6:30 P.M. 3-4-02
(INCLUDES THE TRANSCRIPT FROM THEIR INTERVIEW WITH JOHN WALSH, OF AMERICA'S MOST WANTED)
- Van Dam's on Americas Most Wanted, Sat. March 2, 2002 TRANSCRIPTS! March 4, 2002
- Affidavits May Give More Details -Van Dam Case-Judge Deciding Soon To Unseal Affidavits Monday-3/4? March 4, 2002
- DANIELLE'S DEATH MAY REMAIN MYSTERY: March 3, 2002
- Mourners Gathering At Site Where Danielle's Body Was Found: (Post van Dam News Here)March 1, 2002
- ‘It Isn’t Over Yet’:SDPD Chief Bejarano talks about latest developments in van Dam CaseMarch 1, 2002
- BREAKING NOW: Detectives Arrive at Danielle Van Dam Residence for 4:00 P.M. Announcement.February 28, 2002
- Van Dam Updates: (2-28-02 - Noon) POSITIVE ID EXPECTED SOON February 28, 2002
- Apparent Remains Of Danielle Found : (11:00 P.M. Update)February 27, 2002
- DA Believes Body Found IS That Of Danielle van Dam: 6:30 P.M. News ConferenceFebruary 27, 2002
- Danielle's Neighbor Enters Not Guilty Plea At Hearing: (Past Articles Revelance Still An Issue?) February 27, 2002
Westerfield arraignment at 1:30, VD press conference afterward>(2/26/02)
- Murder Charge Likely In Missing-Girl Investigation (Danielle van Dam)February 25, 2002
- Neighbor Arrested in Van Dam Case:(Police Have No Motive Linking Him To Danielle) February 24, 2002
Van Dam Neighbor, Focus For Investigators From Start: (Who Is David Westerfield?) (February 23, 2002)
- Police arrest Westerfield (2/22/02)
- Van Dam Neighbor, Focus For Investigators From Start: (Who Is David Westerfield?)
- Missing Danielle Parents Allegedly Swingers (2-19)
- (Van Dam) Abduction Rare Outside Family: Did San Diego Cops Lack Of Interest Lead To Unsolved Cases?February 10, 2002
- WHERE IS DANIELLE VAN DAM? Town Is Rife With Talk! February 18, 2002
- Marc Klass Personally Meets With Van Dams : Reward at $25,000February 13, 2002
SSS San Diego, California, Tuesday, June 4, 2002, 9:50 a.m.
OKAY. MR. DUSEK, ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE.
MR. DUSEK: THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.
GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
THE JURORS: GOOD MORNING.
MR. DUSEK: WELCOME BACK. THIS TRIAL WILL BE ABOUT TWO PEOPLE. TWO PEOPLE. DAVID WESTERFIELD AND DANIELLE VAN DAM.
----more specifically, it will be about what david westerfield did to brenda -- or danielle van dam. because of that, we'll be talking about three primary time periods.
the first begins, the first and primary begins february 1st and goes until danielle's body was recovered.
the two other periods will be the week before, a friday, when brenda van dam and some of her friends had minor contact with the defendant.
the other period of time will be in the middle of that week, when brenda van dam and her two children went out selling girl scout cookies to the defendant.
so we will be talking about the three times the van dam family had contact with david westerfield. the evidence in this case will indicate that somebody sneaked into the van dam home that late evening february 1st going into february 2nd;
mr. feldman: argument. objection.
the court: overruled.
the evidence in this case that we will present will focus on david westerfield, what he did and what he didn't do, what he said and what he didn't say.
the evidence starts back in february, february 1st, a friday, which for many of you might be more memorable as super bowl weekend. that was the weekend of the super bowl this year. the van dam family lives in the sabre springs area up by poway, penasquitos, carmel mountain area, up 15. a nice, new neighborhood. and you'll hear that they've lived there for three, four years. they have -- had three children and a dog in this neighborhood. that friday damon van dam went off to work. he works over at qualcomm, is some sort of an engineer. the kids went to school. and brenda van dam stayed home. there was a trip coming up.
the family was going to be able to go to italy on a business trip that damon van dam had scheduled, and plans were being made to tag along with him. that evening there were also plans for brenda van dam to go out with some friends.
damon had originally been scheduled to go on a snowboarding trip with his oldest boy derrick. he was going to go with derrick and some family friends the libbys. and mr. libby and his boy derrick were going to go off snowboarding up to the mountains that weekend and spend a night at a cabin they have up there. so the plans were for them to go.
brenda had made plans to meet with two of her girl friends, and they were going to go out. one of the girl friends was leaving town. she was being transferred back east. so they had made plans for a babysitter to watch the children, the two kids that were going to remain behind while she went out.
the plans changed at the end because damon van dam couldn't go; the libbys had to back out of it or at least delay the trip to the mountains. so damon van dam was able to remain home that evening and he was the one watching their children. that weekend as he was home with the three children, the two friends of brenda van dam came over, barbara easton and denise kemel.
they came up from i believe it's tierrasanta is where they live. they live next to each other in a complex down there. and they came up, and they were going to go out for the evening to a place called dad's. when they arrived, the van dam family had just finished eating. i think brenda had gone out to get some pizza for the family that night. the two girl friends show up, and they chit-chat for a bit, and eventually they go out into the garage where they smoke.
there is no smoking allowed in the garage. brenda goes out with them. the two girl friends, brenda -- i'm sorry -- barbara and denise, they split a beer. while they're out there, they light up a marijuana cigarette, and the three of them pass it around. damon eventually walks out into the garage for a short amount of time, takes a couple of puffs on the cigarette, and then goes back inside.
and you will hear when he was asked about what happened that day that he didn't tell them about the marijuana cigarette. he lied to the police about that. there is no smoking allowed in the garage. brenda goes out with them. the two girl friends, brenda -- i'm sorry -- barbara and denise, they split a beer. while they're out there, they light up a marijuana cigarette, and the three of them pass it around. damon eventually walks out into the garage for a short amount of time, takes a couple of puffs on the cigarette, and then goes back inside.
while these three ladies were in the garage, denise kemel either got or had to make a phone call on a cell. phone. she couldn't get good reception in the garage, so she stepped outside the side door so she could get better reception. had to unlock the side door, get outside, made the call, completed the business that she was doing, came back into the garage, and didn't lock the door, didn't lock the side door. the three ladies eventually go back into the house, clean up, and head off to dad's.
all three of them are going to go in one car. brenda van dam is going to drive them in their excursion i think she has, and the two girl friends leave the car behind at their house. they drive over to dad's, which is from their house you drive down a little street 'til you get to poway road, then you turn right or east on poway road, heading into the town of poway. and it's about two miles into poway on the right-hand side. it's a family-type restaurant. dad's cafe and steakhouse i think is the name of it. primarily a family restaurant during the day for morning, lunch, and dinner. kind of divided in half.
i think you'll see where basically the booths and the seating for the restaurant over on the left-hand side, on the right-hand side up front they have a room, it's a pool table, couple of pool tables up there. immediately behind that they have a bar and a dance floor. the dance floor is covered with dining tables during most of the day. once you get to 10:00 o'clock at night, those are cleared away, and they typically have a band that comes in, and there's dancing.
this you will hear is the second time that brenda van dam had been to dad's.
she had been there the week before with the same two girls, barbara easton and denise kemel. they had gone there the week before. girls night out. had a good time. and while they were at the bar, the cafe of that place, at least, brenda van dam recognized her neighbor david westerfield. and she'll tell you about the contacts she had with him up to that point. basically none.
they have to drive by the westerfield house to get to their house the way that you come into their neighborhood, and it was basically just a hi and 'bye as you pass them on the street. you wave at your neighbor in this new neighborhood where everyone's just moved in, and there had been no contact. no contact whatsoever. she had not been in the westerfield home. he had not been in the van dam home. she will tell you that she knew he was there, but there was very little contact with him that night. they had a good time, brenda and her two girl friends, and they went home.
she'll tell you about the second contact she had with the defendant. that will be later that week, halfway between the two fridays when she was at dad's. during that week, wednesday or thursday, she and danielle and the youngest boy dylan, were out selling girl scout cookies. she's going along with her daughter to help sell the girl scout cookies and going to all the neighborhood homes. last spot they stopped at was the westerfield home.
tell you they knocked on the door. he invited them in. and they, you know, began talking about the girl scout cookies. quickly enough, though, the two kids, danielle, seven years old, and dylan, five years old i believe, got interested in the pool out in the backyard.
mr. westerfield has a nice pool out there. and the kids wanted to go out and take a look. and brenda let them wander out there and take a look. you know, don't fall in the pool. be careful. they were out there for a bit. eventually came back in. brenda will tell you that they went nowhere else in that house. nowhere else. didn't go upstairs, didn't go in the garage, stayed with her or they were in the backyard.
she'll tell you that while she was in the house she spoke with mr. westerfield. he had just done some new work in his kitchen, some new granite tops or corovan or whatever it is on the top, and some fancy knobs, you know, that they chit-chatted about.
mr. westerfield brought up that he had seen her at dad's the week before. how come you didn't introduce me to your friend barbara. fun chick barbara. how come you didn't introduce me. she was kind of cute. well, i don't even know your name. no, it's david westerfield. they exchanged names there. he indicated to barbara van dam or brenda van dam, i'm sorry, that he would like to, you know, meet her. next time, you know, could you introduce me. let her know that i'm a rich single guy here in the neighborhood.
Others who have been familiar with the trial have in the past pointed me in the right direction whn I have asked specific questions or proposed theories. Based on that and based on my own reasoning I arrived at the above scenario which I believe answers virtually all of the objections of he Westerfield didn't do it crowd except those dealing with planted evidence.
Assuming the above scenario continues to be without substantial fault by the naysayers I believe the case then comes back to how probable is the goldilocks story.
Any comments you or others have about the three hour suggested scenario would be greatly appreciated.
Either you are being 'sarcastic', or you are serious. If serious, then it goes back to your question about the .22 shell casing. It would appear to me and others you are attempting to remain ignorant of all information in the case.
I use the term ignorant, to mean INGORING the information. It is all here, in the internet, on FR, on tons of websites.
It is difficult discussing a subject with someone when you have to tell them the details of every subject while discussing it.
If a 22. casing was in Danielle's room before she disappeared, then the LE official that searched Danielle's room on her hands and knees the first day, is either a liar or and an idiot.
If not, then somehow, a neighbor GIRL SCOUT broke into the VD home after police had surrounded the home, marked off Danielle's room, and Brenda and/or Damon put the dog gate up in the doorway to Danielle's room, and without (just like DW) anyone (Brenda,Damon,the boys, the dog, the alarm system) noticing she snuck into Danielle's room and while curiously looking around, a .22 casing came off her shoe or out of her pocket.
Your statement above would be correct. It is not the statement I made.
I am ignorant on this issue. Could you lead me to the documentation and at the same time explain the relevance of this casing ?
I missed typed. I should have said the first one was Janurary 27. I don't recall the second one's date.
I believe I said thank you didn't I.
I didn't know their was a ping list. Your welcome to put me on it or is it only for folks who agree with you ?
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