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. |
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BUT, libby wanted to go on Sunday, so Damon delays the trip??? Why???
I would say "see ya when ya get there".
Damon saving his gas money?
I don't think this clarifies the "spur of the moment" much but here it is in context:
REDDEN: Okay. Alright, so, ok, so, Saturday, what time did you go get that thing then?
WESTERFIELD: Um, let’s see. I got up, I’m guessing about 10 after 7.
REDDEN: Saturday morning?
WESTERFIELD: Saturday morning.
REDDEN: Okay.
WESTERFIELD: Went downstairs and opened the front door and turned off the front light, looked around. And got dressed, took a shower, got dressed. Then I left to get the motor home.
REDDEN: Okay, so was this spur of the moment or something you had planned?
WESTERFIELD: No, it was spur of the moment. Because I had a, you know, I had made a commitment to Gary to be at the bar on Friday night. And I knew that I had nothing really planned for today. So it was going to be Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
It seems the media and the police used these statements as HYPE to get the public excited about their bringing home the BIG FISH.
They committed tons of YOUR money, and LE's time (more your money) to going after DW.
Once committed, there is no backing out.
Most people do not understand, even if the police find during the investigation that you are totally innocent, they have no obligation to testify/provide this info in court. IF they arrested and charged you, YOU Have to defend yourself, and if you can't, TOO BAD.
Notice that police/media didn't make a big deal out of catching two CHILD/PORN/RAPISTS that lived within miles of Danielle, and one of whom wasn't even arrested until a few days after FEB 16th.
Is is POSSIBLE these two were involved in Danielle's abduction/death? SURE it is.
For all we know they may have even confessed to it by now.
BUT, the SHOW MUST GO ON. Sure, If Feldman had access to that info, he could present it. But, he must know it exists, and then get proof.
If it would embarrass the police, IT WON'T HAPPEN. If you believe otherwise, you have a lot to learn about this world.
It was him responding to REDDEN stating 'SPUR OF THE MOMENT'.
IN court this would be called LEADING THE WITNESS.
DW then clarifies why he would agree to SPUR OF THE MOMENT.
So, my point all along has been that those that say DW LIED TO POLICE are trying to take what he said OUT OF CONTEXT, and I believe I am right.
I don't believe he had been using it much over the winter. He had made PLANS to go SOMEWHERE. He asked a friend to go, and that friend had other plans. (per testimony). His son was asked to go, but he had other plans (per testimony).
DW went to where he planned first, but that sucked, so he went several other places searching for a better time. He went to where his 'sand buddies' usually go and they weren't there.
So, it was a planned trip, but where he went was SPUR OF THE MOMENT. A few posts back is the actual quotes from the REDDEN interview so you can read what REDDEN said, what DW said, and DW's explanation of why he agreed to REDDEN's Statement that it was SPUR OF THE MOMENT, for yourself. (best way)./
Notice Westerfield underscores it by the italicized portion:
WESTERFIELD: No, it was spur of the moment. Because I had a, you know, I had made a commitment to Gary to be at the bar on Friday night. And I knew that I had nothing really planned for today. So it was going to be Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
end excerpt
Plus Neal said their weekend camping trips were usually Fri thru Sunday.
Nobody is saying the statement and the statement alone are proof of murder, but it is foolish to just cast it aside without giving it some thought.
Unless you like being hung in the village square.
There is no testimony to Danielle having a bath that evening and her hair did not look groomed for her passport picture, so this witness cannot say that the fiber was there at the time of death. I don't see Feldman conceding anything, he was just shut down by the judge.
Right. The media and police and Prosecution have tried to make mountains out of molehills, by taking statements out of context to try and imply guilt.
WHY?
I believe it is because they saw just how weak their case was, and that they realized DW was not a member of the LOCAL #510 CHILD/PORN/RAPIST/KILLER club run out of SD and Poway, that they had others suspects which were more likely the bad guys, but BRENDA/DAMON had already put them on DW,and it was already in the news, and the DA wanted to ROLL on it.
It has been so obvious by DW's behavior,statements, bothering to drive the police all over hell for how many hours ?????? in an effort to cooperate, and those are the reasons they give for assuming his guilt.
HE WAS TO NICE, HE COOPERATED WITH POLICE, HE HAD NOTHING TO HIDE.
uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!~
Read it again. Redden asks if it was planned or spur of the moment:
"REDDEN: Okay, so was this spur of the moment or something you had planned?"
snip
Look, I never said DW "lied", I do think he misrepresented the trip if he did tell his friend and Neal he was planning to go camping.
What is this leading stuff? You don't think DW was capable of saying "I was planning on going but originally planned on going to the desert and changed my mind and went to the Strand, but that didn't work out after all".
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