Westerfield's Fate In Hands Of Jury: VERDICT WATCH BEGINS in Van Dam Murder Case

CourtTV ^ | August 8, 2002 | CourtTV

[FresnoDA]

Jury's hands After two months of hearing evidence, jurors have begun deliberating the fate of David Westerfield, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam

[oremus]

Also, was the "stuff" on the jacket determined to have been blood? I heard it could have been drool even. Just wondering.

[VRWC_minion]

Interesting comment below about degrading "rapidly". Apparently moisture can cause hair DNA to degrade. Having 12 out of 13 That would argue for a more recent source of the hair rather than one in the prior fall that would be subject to lots of moisture flowing through the drain

---

Sample Collection of Hair for DNA Analysis

Preparation of Hair Samples for DNA Analysis
DNA is a relatively stable molecule but will degrade over time unless preserved properly. Hair sampling kits are available upon request through the NRDPFC. Sampling kits (NRDPFC-003a) include a paper envelope and insert in which hair samples are protected. It is extremely important to keep hair samples dry upon collection and shipment. DNA within hair can degrade very rapidly if left in harsh condition such as rain or moisture.Link

[UCANSEE2]

Well,if true, then I am wrong about the SPOT DNA.

But then that information would pertain to the hair.

[meadsjn]

The wording of the expert witness was deceptive. (i.e. "12 of 13 markers match" and "a perfect match means a 1 to x-quadrillion chance...", but did not make it clear that a 12 of 13 marker match is not the same as a perfect match.

The links I posted concerning the 24 of 25 was one for commercial testing to determine familial relationships (people searching for distant relatives).

Later I found additional sites on DNA forensics, most of which suggested that a match of four or five markers was sufficient to convict someone.

Strange that these commercial outfits have a much tighter criteria for finding a distant cousin, than the government has for frying your gizzards.

[KnutCase]

If this trial decision goes to the Appeals Court, you can bet the DNA experts, i.e., Barry Sheck & Co., will be filling the courtroom with mountains of data.

[UCANSEE2]

I have been corrected. The hair was 12 out of 13, meaning it could have been Brenda's or her brothers.

The spot on the JACKET and MH was declared A PERFECT MATCH.

As John Jamieson said, the jacket went through the DRY CLEANERS, and it still came out afterward as A PERFECT MATCH.

THat is what is beyond belief.

[small_l_libertarian]

Thank you for the link. I wonder how rapidly "very rapidly" is. If it's just a matter of days, I would be willing to believe it, but they DNA matched the Unknown Soldier from Vietnam, and all they had was a small amount of extremely decomposed remains. If I remember correctly, they matched him by using mitDNA, the same sort of testing they used on this hair. Just not sure I'm believing what they're trying to make me believe.

[CedarDave]

Mine was meant to be humorous also. A little play on your Frederick's story and the last word of my post.

[CAPPSMADNESS]

you didn't ping me.... :(

[oremus]

So you're saying the dry-cleaning technically should have degraded the evidence?

[UCANSEE2]

That would be my guess.

[oremus]

That BLUE DAM VAN that got away continuously haunts me.

[UCANSEE2]

POST 355 is not correct. The 12 out of 13 referred to the HAIR found.

I apologize for the confusion.

[the Deejay]

Isn't it rather odd that during all the turmoil for
them, they've spent so much time buying, trading
cars, and what have you?

Now I realize I'm not cut from the same cloth as
the vdams, but even if I'd had such things planned
prior to my kids disappearance, I'm positive it would
all go out the window without a second thought. But
not them. It's been "business as usual."

[alexandria]

Remember Basscleff, "From The Hip" Judd Nelson

[UCANSEE2]

Probably the last time for this:

GOLDEN COMMENTS

convicted felons can't vote unless their rights have been restored or they are democrats
by rolling_stone

"Well, EXCUSE me, Mr. Feldman, what's a couple of math errors? We have a dead child, a beautiful little girl, brutally murdered by a monster, deposited like TRASH, on the side of the road, and YOU'RE concerned with MATH?!" "Give me a BREAK"
! by spectre (sw)

I find it interesting that those without a political agenda ALL FIND HIM NOT GUILTY
by mouser

Best case scenario is a hung jury.
And you hear thunder before you see the lightning ?
up is down --war is peace. What color is the sky on your planet ?
by dread78645

"A Fly Lie for the prosecution."
by dread78645

Bottom line is, Dusek should not have reopened his taken this case. If they really wanted a conviction, I don't know why Dusek was selected. Maybe he IS the sacrificial lamb after all.
by Southflanknorthpawsis

sshhh i'm hunting wabbits
by countess

Looks to me like some people have had to resort to grasping at fibers.
by bolthead

William Wallace suffered less than Goff did today.
by John Jamieson

That goofy mascot of the SD Padres has long orange fibers all over it...maybe Mudd did it.
by demsux

(AND MY FAVORITE, by JUDGE MUDD)

THE COURT: WE DEFINITELY HAVE ADMITTED UNTRUTHFULNESSES .
by Karson

Thanks for pointing that out! It's an interesting coincidence..but everything has to have a margin of error...I'd say at least 3-4 days give or take.. (in danielle's case anyway)
By ~Kim4VRWC's~

"I have plotted the data here in 4 dimensions, using time, temperature, dewpoint, and solar insolance, using a 5 sigma probablity matrix and 16 polynominal regression analysis. I gathered weather data from three geometrically obtuse locations using GPS and NWS data, corrected for distance and wind direction, velocity, and turbulance. Using the exact altitude of the Dehesa location, we can see here that the first 2 duds were right."
by John Jamieson

Judge Mudd just announced that he will sequester the jury...
AFTER THE TRIAL HAS ENDED AND MR. WESTERFIELD HAS BEEN CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO DEATH BY LETHAL INJECTION.
by basscleff

The end justifies the medians.
by shezza

Everyone likes the bugs better than the lawyers.
by VRWC_minion

Did you hear that? Judge told the jury to NOT form an opinion..
by ~Kim4VRWC's~

Bug guy #945 just agreed with the other 943 and said time of dead was around feb 12 give or take 2-3 days.
Feldman had a knock out
Dusek had a melt down
We lost our appetites
Dusek believes this case lives or dies on the bug evidence.
Westerfield walks broke
Killer is still on the loose
hows that

by basscleff

No one can write fiction stranger than this case....

Reports of dogs fainting from bleach in the garage, searchers are drawn to an area by the stench of a roadkill dog, but no one smells a 2 to 4 to 6 weeks (choose your entomologist)dead body have eaten, with a thriving maggot mass.

A single man has pictures of naked women on his computer and deleted (did I understand that correctly?) animated child porn files on his computer. Folks are calling for his head, but feel buckets of sympathy for a mother of young children trolling for sluts to come to her home for a night of orgies.

ala Mr. Traficant: Beam me up!

I'm trying really hard not to be sarcastic, but this is sheer lunacy! by pinz-n-needlez

I have my own reasons for believing he is innocent. Since I believe he is innocent, I see certain things in that context. Mudd's increasingly blatant bias upsets me. Please: the fingerprint proves the kidnapping which in turn proves everything else. He could make his instructions shorter, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, go into that room, write the word 'guilty' on a piece of paper, come back and hand it to the baliff." by Yeti

Dusek was done after 15 minutes, and was finished by lunchtime. All he has to do now is stop speaking. By connectthedots

AND YET MUDD IGNORES THEM. WHY WHY WHY ?
'Cuz they can't watch CourtTV if they're sequestered? Do I get a prize?

by small_l_libertarian

AND THE NEW GOLDEN COMMENTS

As far as I can see in the course of marching Westerfield up the great steps of the Aztlan altar of human sacrifice the whole case is thus: Westerfield is said to have had child porn so therefore he is guilty and while our limited human imaginations and our human technical abilities are unable to detemine in any reasonable way how he did it, where he did it, and how he was able to drop her body off on 16 February while accompanied by the whole of the overtime-drawing staff of the SDPD detetctive squad, yet the child porn evidence is so compelling that it alone means he did it, even though it isn't child porn by legal definition and the cartoons that got everybody's dander up is more likely his son's.

And furthermore for the sake of protecting the privacy of our precious drug-selling little league coaches, doobie-loving airline stewardesses, child-abandoning gay-bar visiting mommies, and polyamorous daddies, not only must we not investiagte them, but we must get this human sacrifice to the altar and sacrificed at the soonest possible moment, all else be damned. by bvw

[oremus]

I agree. That is part of what troubles me so much about this whole thing - the Van Dam's behavior has been highly suspicious to say the least. And call me "naive", but Mr. Westerfield, to me, has the sad look in his eyes of someone who has been railroaded, not someone who is guilty. Again, I am on the fence because there are just way too many questions and way too little evidence for me to be 100% sure they have their man. If he's actually it, great. But if not, justice has not been served and the last thing I want to see is any possibility of the wrong man being convicted for this heinous crime.

[Eva]

What did Mudd say about the red sweater?

[Spunky]

They don't need to know when the jury deliberates, only when they come in with a verdict.

[Eva]

Brenda and Damon were both shown pictures of the autopsy and others, before allowing him back into the court room, to prepare them, so that they would not react and prejudice the jury.