Van Dam Jury Update, Monday August 12th: Westerfield's Fate Lies In Mudd Instructions?

Court TV ^ | August 12, 2002 | Court TV

[FresnoDA]

Jury's time Jurors will resume deliberations Monday in the capital case of David Westerfield, who is accused of killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam

DAY TWO: FRIDAY, AUG. 9, 2002
12 noon ET	Jury enters jury room.
2:30 p.m. ET	Jury goes home for the weekend.

DAY ONE: THURSDAY, AUG. 8, 2002
1:10 p.m. ET	Jury begins deliberating. After two months of testimony, the capital murder trial of David Westerfield is in the hands of the jurors, who began their deliberations following more than two days of closing arguments.
2:50 p.m.	Jury sends a note to the judge.
3:00 p.m.	Jury at lunch.
4:30 p.m.	Judge calls the lawyers but not the public or the press into the courtroom.
5:15 p.m.	Judge says jurors sent note asking to deliberate five days a week instead of having Friday off and he approved their request.
7:00 p.m.	Jury goes home for the day. Will return Friday morning.

[Rheo]

CFN 101990695 Record Date 6/18/2002 1:23:06 PM

Book Type O Book 33299 Page 661 # of Pages 1

Doc Type SM Satisfaction of Mortgage

Consideration $0.00 Legal Address 1 Address 2 City State Zip Case Number Parcel ID Related Docs 86414925

From UNION PLANTERS BANK

To COPE,BRENDA S

[UCANSEE2]

I guess then, conversely, each juror could pick their own reason, for GUILT? I mean this seriously.

There is JURY INSTRUCTION. What the Judge tells them, and how they interpret that information.

There is What the Prosecutor told them and how he made them feel, emotionally and mentally.

There is the same for the Defense.

Then there will be what they actually decide in their own mind, to do.

This will be influenced by (1) a desire to go home, (2) Confrontations amongst the group (i.e. taking sides, making buddies, enemies), (3) the evidence, (4)desire to make a statement, (5) How much CTV they have been forced to watch.

[the Deejay]

Brenda testified that Derek & Dylen have very
short hair. One of them has his hair "spiked"
and it's about an inch long.

[gigi]

My husband says you could stand the cat her on her face! LOL!!
I told him to try it and he said no way she's mean looking.

[John Jamieson]

The fact that we've ended up talking about cats is interesting. One of the songs from CATS keeps running through my mind when I try to imagin DW sneaking through the VD house. "But DW's not there!"

[UCANSEE2]

I guess then, conversely, each juror could pick their own reason, for GUILT? I mean this seriously.

On a more serious note, the jury is supposed to follow the judges instructions. (not Duseks).

Technically, if they find one thing that amounts to reasonable doubt, then they must pick for the defense.

It is not the other way around, which, I believe, is what you are trying to say.

[the Deejay]

Oh, that's just too funny about your husband
and the cat!!!

[Jaded]

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a mock jury for this case. We read the jury instructions. Very interesting.

On the porn charge originally it was majority guilty. Then we read the testimony of Lawson, Watkins and Neal. The key part of the law was knowingly possess. The experts stated that there was no pre-pubescent porn. So it was questionable if any of the girls were under age. Some of it was Neal's. The "rape video" was hentai, so it didn't matter. It was also recovered from a deleted file and on Neal's computer too. Also some of the pics the showed in court came from Neal's computer.

Kidnapping- There is NO proof he kidnapped her. Exculpatory evidence in the VD home. No dog hits on the Westerfield home, SUV or RV, 180 Frank aside.

Murder- Could not happen with out the kidnapping. Except if she was murdered inside her room. Then there are no special circumstances. Again, exculpatory evidence. The bug guys, no dog hits. There is too much reasonable doubt. Actually one of the participants was convinced from the beginning that David was guilty. Until that person listened to the testimony. However, there was one participant who was convinced of his guilt on an emotional level and would not be swayed by evidence and justified this position with statements that supported reasonable doubt. Hope the jury doesn't have to slog through that sort of thing.

It was an interesting experience. Glad I'm not on the actual jury.

[Jaded]

Rheo, could you check my new page... Evidence by Location. It's under the evidence page. Could you make sure it's correct. You ARE the hair and fiber EXPERT.

Thanks

[the Deejay]

Again, take a look at that closet. I know, for
a fact, a cat couldn't get in or out of there
without disturbing all those stacks of clothing.

And a man DW's size? Never been in there before?
Forget it! He would have killed himself trying
to get in there.

[Yeti]

Some would argue that DEFENSE should have made a big deal out of this. I think the point was made by defense.

The defense has already made a big deal about it, the feds are investigating, betcha a bunch of money. They just can't say it in court.

Eventually, Poway will be renamed Westerfield. Or Sh*tville, or whatever DW wants, because he will own San Diego county when all is said and done. Or he will be murdered by the same cabal of crooked LE that framed him in the first place.

There have been many times I have wondered if the trial is even legit. Like maybe the falsified eveidence was caught early on, and the trial is part of the investigation. Dusek was just having too much fun, unchecked, the banging, the rope, please.... "I don't have to prove it"

Some LE perps in SD County are going to jail for a long long time, if they are lucky.

[Rheo]

Surely you jest....I'll take a look tho...can't wait to be able to throw out all these notes!!

Any idea why Denise picked FL of all places to move to?...does she have a history there? was it for her job? (IIRC, it was)..or free living accomodations??

[gigi]

Somebody posted that they would believe that DW was in that closet if he had cleaned it! I thought that was funny.

[John Jamieson]

Dw was just trying to claen the place up for 3 hours.

[the Deejay]

I certainly do agree with your post #351.

[Yeti]

I, however, have a real problem with the "sport jacket" description.

I agree. If it was just someone on the street, it might be understandable --- people who do sport wear warm-up jackets --- but it was a dry cleaner! They would use the correct terminology.

[Krodg]

From the information available to the general public, ASK the man on the street what he thinks, someone who doesn't KNOW the facts as we do..they will say "guilty".

I talked to my daughter from Texas the other night and that very thing happened. The one good thing about the conversation was, since she didn't really follow it she was willing to listen. Of course, she's a long way from SD. sigh.

I am keenly aware of the good arguments presented on DW's behalf on this forum, but the Jury isn't hearing them, another troubling aspect of the eventual verdict consideration.

It wouldn't matter if they had jurors who only saw blood & porn. Good argument is wasted on people of that mindset. The only hope at all is for some to see reasonable doubt.

After all, a brick is a brick.

[UCANSEE2]

Even more suprising, is WHY they didn't go to the campground and search DW's Motor Home if they suspected him from the get-go. Which of course, they DID...since he was the only Male to have left the neighborhood that morning...:~)

I mean, let's assume DW had her in his Motor Home..they missed their chance to get her out Alive...yeah, right.

So, when did Brenda give her 'statement' to police that they later used on the search warrant?

Was it Saturday ? If police were pointed at a particular person as a 'perp', you would think they would have issued an "APB" on his MH so they (just as you said, sw) could have had a chance to catch him while Danielle was possibly ALIVE.

But, NO, they waited for him to return home. To get settled in. To have time to let him do things that 'looked' suspicious. Like having his laundry done. Like helping search his yard and pool for Danielle. Like freely allowing police to search his home. Like telling police details of his entire weekend. Like taking police on a 3 hour tour (no make that more like 7hours) in his MH to show them every place he went.

[John Jamieson]

Come on tell us. How much cash did Denise get?

[the Deejay]

One must admit, if the jury has common sense,
when they look at that pic. of the closet, they
will realize what I said about a cat or man.

I mean, really there's nothing in disarray.

Also, what happened with Dusek and the picture
of the so-called gouges, he tried to pass off
as "scratches" on DW's arm? He knew it was
bogus & never showed it again in court. ( I
forgot which witness debunked it.)