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.
If they had DW's name/address or phone number from a CHILD PORN RING website proving he downloaded the porn from there, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD IT IN COURT.
If he was on a mailing list, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD IT IN COURT.
IF they had videos/images with DW having sex with a child, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD IT IN COURT.
Is there some other 'way' you have that he could be connected with a CHILD PORN ring? That wouldn't be admissible in court?
I'd say that if her "reproductive organs" were missisng that it is a safe bet that she'd been sexually molested -- unless animals got to the body.
That is about the gentlest 'rude' comment I have ever seen. He was trying to be polite, as you seem to want to argue the case, but haven't bothered to gain any knowledge of the details of the case.
I.E. Why bother arguing something you know nothing about?
The first bug guy (originally for the prosecution) stated "although adult beetles were present, there were NO beetle larvae." This is how he says he knew it was the primary infestation.
It may also be the DA's intention to file charges for teh ring if he gets off of the existing charge.
But all of this is speculation.
It is all there. FresDA just posted tons of links. All the past DW/Danielle threads are still here on FREE REPUBLIC. You can use GOOGLE to search other websites. You can go to the SanDiego Channel and they have links to all the transcripts.
Here is the real problem.
YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM DRINK.
7/29/02
POWAY ---- A 20-acre section of a peak named after a former Poway teacher and her family would become city-owned open space, under a purchase plan to be considered Tuesday by the City Council.
The owners of the property, on the south face of Van Dam Peak in the southwestern corner of the city, have agreed to sell the site to the city for $210,000. The council will be asked to approve the deal during a council meeting beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
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If the purchase goes through, it will be the first Poway has made in its effort to preserve the city's prominent peaks or other land forms The council set aside $2 million for that purpose last year.
Van Dam Peak stands at the northern end of Iola Way, a residential street off Poway Road that is just inside the city's western border. City Manager Jim Bowersox said Friday the peak was named after Mary Van Dam and her family in the early 1980s.
Van Dam never lived in Poway; instead, she and her husband had a home just outside the city limits in what is now Sabre Springs. Van Dam taught in Poway schools, though, for a number of years.
She is also known to many as the author of the book, "As I Remember Poway." Dedicated to the pioneer families who settled Poway, the book covers the city's history and is filled with tidbits that paint a picture of how the area's early residents farmed, mined for gold, got around the region, entertained themselves and more.
Now in its third printing, the book is still a big seller at the Poway Historical and Memorial Society Museum in Old Poway, said society President Mary Whitton and long-time Van Dam friend Dolora Powers.
The peak named after Van Dam encompasses about 240 acres. Filled with coastal sage scrub, the site is listed as a priority area for habitat conservation in the city's habitat conservation plan.
Bowersox said the city is negotiating with the owners of two 80-acre parcels on the peak, in hopes of buying them as well. Any property the city buys on the peak will be designated as permanent open space, he said.
To set aside the money to preserve significant landforms, the council created a so-called "mitigation bank." The bank offers developers the chance to "buy" credits to preserving environmentally sensitive property in exchange for being allowed to build on such land in other parts of the city.
Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.
To learn. Is there something I posted about the scenario that is wrong ? Those who believe he did it were kind enough to let me know there problems with it and I was able to answer them to their satisfaction. I have read Westerfields version of events, as well as a number of other documents from which to determine the above.
Are my opinions only valid if they encompass everything on ever written ?
FWIW, this is the first time the repsonse to me by the side that beleives Westerfield didn't do it is to claim I a ignorant rather than to point out a flaw. I wonder why that is ? If it were easy to specify a flaw I would assume someone on that side would mention it rather than doing a complete list of documents ?
Which is easier? to say you are wrong because of XY and Z or to throw the entire list of FR links on a post ?
I did drink. Why play games. Why not point out the flaws and then I'll attempt to research them ? Or are their no flaws other than you disagree ?
But not to worry, all cleaned out and vented now, so proceed with more of your learned and in depth theories....../so
Anyway....
Wouldn't they have to prove that such a "ring" existed ?
I believe the group in Sweden did so, they were just having the operatives arrested.
I believe that it would be a question of fact and that because only arrests have been made it would be impossible to say he was part of something that had yet to be proved.
Well, if they were selling CHILD RAPE PORN and they had evidence of it, videos of CHILDREN being RAPED and those CHILDREN'S DEAD BODIES with evidence as to their age, and DW was in them, or his name was on a mailing list, that is called EVIDENCE and you don't have to prove evidence, you use it to prove.
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