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
Results | Disclaimer

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.

[John Jamieson]

Their heads will explode if he gets off and they'll have nothing to talk about ...... or with.

[fnord]

lol, don't start that again :-)

[james_hayes]

I’m not disagreeing with you. But, after spitting Coke on my monitor, I had to reply.

[theartfuldodger]

Thanks for the warning :-)

[KnutCase]

??
?¼ne else noticed that the lead paragraph in the article at the beginning of this thread refers to Westerfield as "a former Sabre Springs man". Does that mean the writer thinks he's not coming back? Isn't this being preseumptuous, if not biased???

[the Deejay]

I think they will scream about the total "injustice"that was done to the vdams.

[VRWC_minion]

This one

[John Jamieson]

My experience with lier's is that they giveup only as much as they have to. It's like pulling teeth one at a time, no matter how many insane combinations are in the middle. The only conclusion is that after a lie is exposed, nothing more can be assumed to be true.

[Freedom2specul8]

Really? What a surprise! I would have never guessed that she was ever a conservative.

[spectre]

Kim, if you want to believe that Damon and Barb were just in bed "cuddling and kissing some", than that is your choice.

They have NO REGRETS about that night or their life-style. You can quit trying to defend them with some of us. Won't work, kiddo. They are PIGS..both of them.

Rick Roberts saw which way the wind was blowing and jumped in that direction...pure and simple.

Your refusal to accept the fact that the Van Dams enjoyed swapping sex partners, as testified in the trial, only makes you look pig-headed. You should stop for your own credibility.

sw

[small_l_libertarian]

It just occurred to me that it would be pretty darn funny (and some kind of cosmic justice) if the jury went into deliberations with 10 or so of them thinking "not guilty" and the other 2 decide to go along with them because Dusek told them that "if everyone disagrees with you, you're probably wrong."

:-)

(I know it's most likely not true, just thought it would be funny.)

[Steve0113]

who has expressly stated that "It's time we hung one of these middle aged white men".

Did she actually say that???

[KnutCase]

My apologies for my last post...somebody transposed the keys on my keyboard while i went to get coffee. I'll try to put them back in proper order for next post.

[Jaded]

Even if he's acquitted, his house belongs to Feldman (feldi) now anyway. Why would he go back? The uninformed masses that inhabit Sodom Diego, certainly could not be good for his health. He has no life, it has been ruined. David's life was ruined on Feb 4, permanently, in that community.

Or it could just be more spin. ;-)

[Steve0113]

"a former Sabre Springs man".

I didn't notice it. That's a very odd reference. It implies that he has moved to somewhere else.

[small_l_libertarian]

IIRC, it was something along the lines of, "Well, it's about time one of these middle-aged white men gets the death penalty - it will prove to minorities that they're not the only ones put to death."

She's completely insane.

[Freedom2specul8]

JJ, a lie vs child porn..it's all ugly. If I were to ask which is worse, a lie about smoking a joint vs collecting child porn, I'd say child porn is worse. IMHO, that's what the jury is being asked to decide by the defense themselves--oddly enough. gotta go..Will check in later...

[spectre]

And more..She added that it is about time we sent a message to the minorities that they aren't the only ones that get the death penalty. We need to use Westerfield as an example...

Paraphrased, but same message..sw

[the Deejay]

You notice I said, "she was a conservative in her thoughts."(Past tense.)

[JudyB1938]

I'd never heard of her before I recently started watching Court TV. Would you believe I liked that channel until I caught on to their bias by reading what you guys write about them in these threads! Now I will never be able to watch a forensics-type show again without believing they are faking/exagerating the "evidence".

Click on the link below to hear what happened to my previously "sacred forensic icons" ...

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Grid/6511/bub/bubbles.wav

(Yes, that's the sound of bubbles bursting!)