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.
Why, if she is only there for short period of time ? Which vehicle did he use to dump the body on the 16th, and where did he keep his little treasure until then?
I guess we wait till tomorrow to see the battle of the bugs.
Compare this to how many times a CHILD sneaked into someone's Motor Home without being caught? I bet it's done everyday.
Cyn, I honestly believe (not just for the sake of argument or wit), that Danielle did sneak and play in the Motor Home. She pounced on the bed, looked into a cabinet, shed some hair in the process, and had to have had a tiny scrape or nosebleed to leave the quarter of an inch drop of blood.
It isn't a matter of a win or lose debate for me, it's what I honestly feel could have happened...but no one really knows for sure.
sw
Do you have a theory as to how her blood got on the MH carpet? A drip would be the most logical, though I would think it would be directly from her and not Westerfield.
I don't think it (dripping from Westerfield) is a possibility that should just be dismissed without discussion and I don't understand the mockery (not from you).
If the door was open and unlocked what more does he need. He enters and grabs her and leaves.
Apparently Dusek meant to tell us how that was accomplished but so far he has not done so.,
I guess we shall see.
This is a big hang up for me concerning DW's guilt. Do you think this lack of evidence of DW entering the house will be a hang up for any of the jurors?
I have no idea what the jury will do.
And leave behind one fingerprint, some blood and a hair with a root in it ? Maybe oneof 3 but not 3 of 3. And thats not couting the jacket and the fibers. Taken together with the idea that its highly unlikely she wandered neighborhood and equally unlikely that Westerfield would leave the RV unlocked especially if he is the type that has his son check the locks on the house when he is gone.
That was just about the most perfect post for the most perfect kidnapping I have ever read...very good VRWC.
Translation..who gives a care how he did it, he just walked in there and did it!
That should work for the jury, it did or the DA.
sw
In the transcripts. Read them and then come back and post.
...though I would think it would be directly from her and not Westerfield.
Do you have an idea as to how her blood got on his MH carpet?
NO, more like probably leave a hell of a lot more than just those 3 things.
sw
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