No Decision From Westerfield Jury: Deliberations Continue Tuesday, August 13, 2002

KGTV ^ | August 13, 2002 | KGTV

[FresnoDA]

No Decision From Westerfield Jury

Jury Could Take At Least A Week, Experts Say

Posted: 5:30 p.m. PDT August 12, 2002
Updated: 5:47 p.m. PDT August 12, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- Jurors completed a third day of deliberations without reaching verdicts Monday in the trial of David Westerfield, a former Sabre Springs man accused of kidnapping and killing Danielle van Dam.

	WESTERFIELD TRIAL Share Your Thoughts About The Case Get The Verdict: Sign Up For Breaking News E-mails Westerfield Trial Jury Questionnaire VERDICT COVERAGE Verdict coverage of the David Westerfield trial will air live on Channel 10 NewsChannel 15 and will be live streamed on TheSanDiego Channel.com DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage E-mail: daniellevandam @yahoo.com Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

The six-man, six-woman panel was handed the case Thursday after more than two months of testimony.

According to search warrant affidavits made public after six months under seal, Westerfield admitted to police that he dropped off bedding and other items at a Poway dry cleaners two days after Danielle disappeared.

The warrants and affidavits had been sealed since shortly after the girl's mother discovered her missing from her bed the morning of Feb. 2. Last week, the 4th District Court of Appeal ordered the documents unsealed.

Westerfield, 50, a self-employed design engineer, is charged with murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography.

	Jury Has To Consider Question Carefully

He could face the death penalty if the jury finds true a special circumstance allegation that the murder of the 7-year-old happened during a kidnapping.

The trial, which started June 4, included 23 days of testimony, 98 witnesses and 199 court exhibits.

Trial observers say the deliberations could come down to DNA vs. bugs -- DNA evidence that the victim was in the suspect's motor home versus testimony from defense forensic experts who said bugs on the girl's body indicated it had been dumped while the suspect was under police surveillance.

The alleged swinging lifestyle of the victim's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, also could factor into the jury's verdict.

Defense attorney Steven Feldman told jurors forensic evidence involving bugs on the victim's body proved it was "impossible" for his client to have dumped the body beside an East County road, where it was discovered Feb. 27.

The defense claimed throughout the trial that Westerfield was under tight surveillance by police and the media beginning Feb. 5, three days after the Sabre Springs girl was discovered missing from her bed.

 

SURVEY
	What decision do you think the jury in the David Westerfield trial will reach?
	Guilty on all three counts Guilty of kidnapping, murder Guilty of possessing child pornography Not guilty on all three counts Hung jury
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Westerfield was arrested Feb. 22.

Prosecutors contend the defense did not represent accurately the information provided by experts who study insect infestation of corpses.

Physical evidence -- including Danielle's blood on Westerfield's jacket and fingerprints, hair and fibers found in the defendant's motor home -- point to Westerfield's guilt, prosecutors said.

Feldman said the prosecution presented no evidence that Westerfield had ever been in Danielle's home. He noted that her parents testified to holding sex parties in the home, and said one of their house guests might have committed the crime.

Feldman also suggested that Westerfield could not have maneuvered his way through the darkened van Dam home the night of Feb. 1 without anyone hearing him seizing the 58-pound child.

[bvw]

The last feature is hopefully "It's a Bug's Life"!

[The Other Harry]

Seems the sininster dry cleaning trip had been disclosed to LEO by DW, not kept secret.

I think it had been.

Still, the dry-cleaner search is not something I hold against the LEO's. If DW had been trying to hide something, he might have used any dry-cleaner. Or any garbage can, hole in the ground, or whatever. They're entitled to look around. If they didn't, I think they wouldn't be doing their jobs.

But DW didn't seem to be trying to hide anything. His main fault was showing up at Twin Peaks (now, isn't that a yuck!) early in the morning with no shoes on, and then telling the cops that he'd done that.

Great basis for a death conviction. (slash a long tonne of sarcasm)

[mommya]

This is just something I had been searching for since Rheo found the stuff about Brenda paying off the mortgage and the speculation about Denise moving to Florida....

From the preliminary hearing...

3 BY MR. FELDMAN:

4 Q IS DENISE KEMAL AN HONEST PERSON?

5 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION; IRRELEVANT.

6 THE COURT: SUSTAINED.

How can that be considered irrelevant? That's probably the most relevant thing there is - no? I wish this jury would have gotten to hear this question.

[KnutCase]

Meanwhile at the nearby gay bar they were playing "Howard's End"

[small_l_libertarian]

You guys are cracking me up with these movie titles. I'm SUPPOSED to be working here!

[dougherty]

If you had just raped & killed somebody would take the bedding and your clothes to the cleaners, OR burn it?

I've thought about that myself. For such a supposedly intelligent man, Westerfield is an idiot. Thank God he was an idiot and evidence was recovered from his dry-cleaned clothing.

[Eva]

Not only are we asked to believe that Westerfield took his bedding and clothing to the dry cleaners to remove the signs of a brutal rape and murder, we are asked to believe that the dry cleaning was successful on the bedding, but not on the jacket.

[rolling_stone]

Another alternative reason, is that some retailers have multiple registers for tax and partner "reporting" purposes. They run the official register for part of each day, and the extra one the rest of the day.

Excellent point, I wonder if an employee could also dip into the till somehow. I did find it strange the receipt supposedly didn't have the cleaners name on it, which might also obfuscate dueling registers...

[The Other Harry]

I will personally mail a jar of spicy brown German mustard to the winner!

If I win, I want the mustard. I'll hold you that. I will also do the FR conrtib.

[KnutCase]

Bot only that, Eva, but according to transcripts they could not say with 100% certainty that it was BLOOD!!!!!

[bvw]

Almost bi-polar is dissonance, eh? The 21 game theory applies to a mountain of aptly collected normal day's flotsam and jetsam, but not to the behaviours of the van Dams, not to the procedures and conviction rate of the SDPD. Bug evidence by Mr. Faulkner good for other cases by Dusek, but in this one -- why it's nothing but bad science. There are so many others ...

[irgbar-man]

For the cubicle bound, what does the jury clock now read?
I'll join the pool based on that info * my secret irgbar formula. :D

[KnutCase]

Bot = Not............Not only that......etc.

[KnutCase]

Jury clock..........12:19:28

[Jaded]

Would you like to be part of the construction crew I'm trying to gather? We will be building bridges so we can close the gaps in the evidence Dusek presented. If we go strickly by the blue prints it should take some 10 years or so to complete construction. However, if we use the plans preferred by San Diego, it should take 23 days that are filled mostly with a drone in the background.

[Henrietta]

Miz, put me on for afternoon of Thursday the 15th.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

I'm a man of my word!

[BARLF]

Be sure you "ping" me when the "Not Guilty" verdict comes in. Will be gone from computer most of the day.

Thanks and prayers continue.