Prosecution witness challenges findings of defense 'bug expert'
Posted on 07/30/2002 3:58:51 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Prosecution witness challenges findings of defense 'bug expert'
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July 30, 2002
M. Lee Goff, an entomologist and chairman of the Forensic Sciences Department of Chaminade University in Honolulu, said his review of the crime scene photos, morgue photos, weather reports and other evidence suggest that Danielle's body was exposed to insects as early as Feb. 1 and no later than Feb. 14.
"We're working on an estimate. We're not running a stopwatch here," Goff said. The defense has contended that there was no way Westerfield could have placed the victim's body where it was found in the East County community of Dehesa, because he was under close surveillance by police beginning Feb. 5. Goff was called to the stand to rebut testimony from two forensic entomologists called by the defense who testified that Danielle's body could not have been exposed to insects any earlier than mid-February, nearly two weeks after Westerfield came under police surveillance. Westerfield could face the death penalty if convicted of the kidnap and murder of Danielle. He also has been charged with possession of child pornography. Danielle was reported missing from her family's Sabre Springs home on Feb. 2. Her body was found in a wooded area near El Cajon on Feb. 27 after a massive search drew national attention. Westerfield, who lived two doors down from the van Dams, became an early suspect in her disappearance.
Insect evidenceWhen Danielle's naked body was found, investigators took extensive photos of it and its surroundings, then put bags over her head, feet and hands and wrapped the body in a sheet to preserve any evidence.Law enforcement officials called in forensic entomologist David Faulker to study the signs of insect infestation on the body to try to gauge when Danielle had died. But lead defense attorney Steven Feldman argued in his opening statement that scientific evidence would prove his client could not have killed Danielle. As it turned out, the prosecution never called Faulker to the stand and he was called by Feldman as a defense witness. Early in the trial, San Diego County Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne testified that the girl could have been dead from 10 days to six weeks when her body was found. Faulkner testified July 10 that his analysis of the life cycles of the insects found on Danielle's body showed it wasn't available to insects until sometime between Feb. 16 and 18. On July 22, a second defense expert, Dr. Neal Haskell, testified that Danielle's body couldn't have been exposed to flies any earlier than Feb. 12.
Insect rebuttalProsecutors began rebutting the defense insect evidence on Thursday by calling Dr. William C. Rodriguez III, a forensic anthropologist for the Department of Defense, who testified that Danielle's body was in "an advanced state of mummification" that would have delayed insect infestation.On Tuesday, Goff reiterated testimony about insect lifecycles presented by the previous experts: You can calculate how long a body has been exposed to the elements by gauging the age of the maggots – fly larvae – growing on the body. Flies are quickly drawn to dead bodies and will lay batches of eggs on them. The development of the eggs into different stages of larvae and adult flies is then affected by temperature, humidity and other environmental factors. Using charts of known development rates, a forensic entomologist can look at the age of maggots found on a body and, factoring in the weather, can calculate when the eggs they hatched from had been laid. Generally, the warmer the weather, the faster the insects develop. Goff, author of "A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insects Help Solve Crimes," said he calculated the "post-mortem interval" date from the maggots on Danielle's body using temperature records and charts from a 2000 fly study. He said Faulkner appeared to have made his calculations using a chart of insect development from a study that used 80-degree temperatures, far higher than the rates in the San Diego mountains in February. Haskell appeared to have calculated his dates assuming that the activity of the "maggot mass" on the body would have raised the temperature of the mass, speeding up their development. In both cases, Goff said, the other entomologists estimated that the maggots would have developed much faster than he did, giving a much later date for the exposure of Danielle's body to the elements. Goff was scheduled to resume testifying – and to face cross-examination by the defense – after a lunch break.
Fiber evidence
A series of shirts and other orange-colored items brought to the San Diego Police Department crime lab were made from either nylon, cotton or a polyester-cotton blend, criminalist Tanya DuLaney testified. "Did the fabric of any of these items consist of acrylic in any manner?" assistant prosecutor Woody Clarke asked. "No," DuLaney replied. Prosecutors called DuLaney back to the stand in response to defense suggestions that investigators could have inadvertently cross-contaminated the two crime scenes with the orange acrylic fibers, which became a key piece of prosecutor evidence linking Westerfield with Danielle's body. On June 25, police criminalist Jennifer Shen testified that an orange acrylic fiber tangled in Danielle's plastic necklace at the time her body was found was similar to orange acrylic fibers found in laundry inside Westerfield's home and on bedding in his bedroom. On July 24, lead defense attorney Steven Feldman introduced into evidence several still images from television that showed police investigators wearing orange or orangish shirts as they entered and left Westerfield's house on Feb. 4 or 5. In response, the district attorney's office identified all of the police and search-and-rescue personnel shown in the photos, collected anything orange-colored they were wearing at the time and gave the clothing to the crime lab. That evidence consister of two orange long-sleeved shirts, an orange short-sleeved shirt, four reddish polo shirts, an orange rope, an orange strap, a black-and-red backpack, an orange hat and an orange dog vest, DuLaney said. Under microscopic and infrared examination, none of the fibers taken from those items contained any acrylic material, DuLaney said.
Trial's end in sightAt the start of today's session, Superior Court Judge William Mudd told jurors that there will be no testimony on Wednesday, but that testimony will resume Thursday and could conclude on Monday."It appears to me that next week you'll hear closing arguments and be in deliberations," Mudd said. The judge said that he had not yet decided whether to sequester the jurors during deliberations. Mudd also warned jurors not to read or view any material about the Westerfield case or the Orange County kidnap-murder of Samantha Runnion, in which the girl's mother blamed a previous jury for failing to convict her daughter's accused murdered in a previous sexual abuse case. "The fact is the case is not similar in any way, shape or form," Mudd said. |
Was it the same weekend after the defense rested ?
Only is they were matched by the fiber people. Until then its speculation.
My posting is to show that the fiber came to be in her hair on the necklace at the time she was killed.
Several posters have said she could have picked up the orange fiber during the cookie selling visit a few days prior.
Jennifer Shen, the witness, stated on direct exam (I posted it much earlier on this thread) that the fiber came to be there at time of death/placement at Dehesa.
The excerpt you are referring to is Feldman's cross-exam where she affirms this and he seems to accept it and works in his later date theory by getting her to agree that *if Danielle wasn't moving around* the fiber could come to be there earlier.
Does that make it clear?
The prosecution emphasized that any fiber evidence is available for the defense to have their own analysis done.
Notice the defense has not challenged the findings
I opined that the defense had access to the evidence, which you don't refute. Are you saying they didn't bother to verify the findings, because it would cost money?
I rather expect the defense DID SATISFY themselves concerning this item of evidence (and others, as well). I further suspect that the defense hasn't claimed falsification or mis-interpretation of evidence, because they have checked, and nothing points them in that direction.
The only logical conclusion is the good folks at FR are wrong; the evidence was not falsified or mis-interpreted, and it IS strong physical evidence against the defendant.
At this point, it might be observed that Feldman was very confident his bug-science would be so one sided, it alone would win the case. Therefore, he didn't challenge the Blood, DNA, Hair, Fiber items, from any scientific standpoint. He certainly hasn't raised any issue, about evidence tampering or falsification.
He has had to work very hard, to avoid having the bug-science turn "neutral." Wednesday morning, on Court TV, a poll said 78% of viewers felt the bug-science topic was a "wash" or "neutral."
I still have some doubts, pending the sur-rebuttal, and closing arguments. I would bet thusly on the outcome of this jury trial:
Acquittal, 10%
Conviction, 30%
Hung Jury, 60%
17 THOSE FIBERS THAT WERE SUBJECTED TO THAT TEST?
A. YES.
Q. PHOTOGRAPHS?
A. YES.
Q. ALL OF THEM AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW BY A QUALIFIED EXPERT?
A. YES.
Q. ARE ALL THE FIBERS AVAILABLE
A. YES.
Q. CAN THEY BE RE-EXAMINED IF THERE'S ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF YOUR RESULTS?
A. YES, THEY ARE.
Interesting. The same group that hassled me about my mostly correct predictions about Goff's testimony gave me similar grief when I said the average non-technical person would just throw up thier hands on the bug stuff and return to looking at the evidence.
Its nice to see I have been correct more than they have.
That is not correct. The fiber is similar in every way to the fibers at DW's.
The phrase you mean is "may or may not have a common source".
Big difference!
I just came across this in ref to blood in RV
Q. This test for the presence of blood, we've heard 8 the term, the court has heard the term Hemastix. Is that 9 what you utilized, as well? 10 A. No. That's not what I used. 11 Q. What did you utilize? 12 A. A test called phenylthaline.
Is this the test or was it something else.
By "there earlier" I meant Feldman's hypothetical of the body being placed at Dehesa later, but he seems to concede the fiber would come to be in the hair at time of death and body not moved around.
I'm not crazy after all (I had myself worried for awhile!)
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