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.
Ok play, but the rarer the material the more likely Westerfield did it.
Yes but there is room for more and or less. The time line was self imposed to get Westerfield home by 6am if he started at 3:00 am
Why, do you think he or whoever abducted her would need more than 5 minutes ? I could probably walk up a flight of stairs enter a room grab something and return down a flight of stairs faster than 5 minutes.
DW is a blue color guy, not an orange or earth tone guy. The only way he would have orange in his house is if they were left over towels from his girlfriend, and they would be orange.
Feldman blew it then. Its not in evidence, therefore it didn't occur.
I'm just getting up to speed on the thread.
I understad it was a rim-fired .22 shell ...
Rifle fired. I don't know of any hand-gun that rim-fires .22
P.S. DW is older and orange was popular, believe it or not, in the seventies as a decorating color so an old orange blanket is not beyond the realm of possibility.
But not just in the rear. What about all the orange fibers in his house----bed and laundry?
http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/transcripts/20020626-9999-am2.html
Access times on some wasn't confirmed or denied.
SNIP
FELDMAN
18 A. ON THE ZIP DISKS FROM 16333, ALL BUT TWO OF THEM19 HAD THE LAST ACCESS DATE OF 6/5 OF 2000. TWO HAD THE LAST20 ACCESS DATE OF 3/11/2001.21 Q. OKAY. THAT'S AS TO THE ZIP DISK 16333, IS THAT22 RIGHT?
snip
14 SAYS LAST ACCESS, AND A SEPARATE COLUMN THAT SAYS LAST WRITTEN.15 AM I ACCURATE IN THAT?16 A. YES, YOU ARE.17 Q. YOU DON'T NOTE WITH REGARD TO 16332 THE DATE OF18 LAST ACCESS?19 A. THAT IS CORRECT.20 Q. WHY NOT?21 A. BECAUSE THERE WAS NO LAST ACCESS DATE ON THE MEDIA22 OR ON THE ZIP DISK. IT WAS JUST THE FILE WRITTEN DATE.
snip
(my notes: and with regards to some)
1 Q. YOU CANNOT TELL WHEN THEY WERE LAST ACCESSED,2 CORRECT?3 A. NO, SIR, I CANNOT. 4 A. AS I -- THAT'S FROM A C. D. THE LAST TWO ARE C.5 D.S, AND C. D.S, ONCE YOU ACCESS THEM, THEY DON'T CHANGE THE6 ACCESS TIME.
CLARK
20 BY MR. CLARKE:21 Q. MR. WATKINS, WITH REGARD TO THE C. D.S AND THE22 MOVIES, WOULD IT BE SPECULATION FOR YOU TO INTERPRET THAT THEY23 HAVE NOT BEEN ACCESSED SINCE THEY WERE CREATED?24 A. YES.25 Q. AND, IN FACT, THE C. D.S I THINK, AS YOU SAID
snip
25 Q. AND, IN FACT, THE C. D.S I THINK, AS YOU SAID26 EARLIER, DON'T ALLOW YOU TO DETERMINE WHEN THEY WERE LAST27 VIEWED; IS THAT CORRECT?28 A. YES, SIR. THAT IS CORRECT.64441 Q. IS THAT ALSO TRUE WITH REGARD TO THE ZIP DISKS IF2 THEY'RE, IN FACT, -- AND, I'M SORRY, WAS THE TERM "LOCKED" OR3 "PROTECTED"?4 A. YES, SIR.5 Q. SO YOU CAN'T TELL WHEN THEY WERE LAST -- I'M SORRY,6 LAST ACCESSED IF THEY WERE IN THAT CONDITION?7 A. THAT IS CORRECT.
As an aside, I was looking at the floorplan someone posted of the BVDs house. Why exactly did they theorize that DAW was hiding in the closet? It seems to me that the bathroom across the hall was a much better hiding place.
FWIW I am of the same age and locale and mindset of DW and I can guarentee that he has no old blankets left over from the 70's. LOL If he is like most men of that age he has fond rememberances of the era, but has no desire to remember. Hell, I bet that he even had a lilac jumpsuit, but you will never get him to admit it. (I plead the 5th)
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