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.

[Jaded]

Gee that poses yet another set of questions:

Was Danielle really wearing pj's?
Are these really identical pj's(that's certainly a question)
Are they a cotton knit jammies? (if so they will shed some)
Was there jammie fiber in Danielle's bed?
Why is there NO Jammie fibers found anywhere including on Danielle's body?

[Jaded]

Note to Bren: Crack kills.

[Jaded]

Gee, dread, hadn't thought of that. This really was premeditated after he got sloshed.

[demsux]

Boy, you're not kidding you've been jackeled.

Looks like dumcek and muddleminded have been using their laptops again.

[Jaded]

He said that while he was shilling much earlier. He has his hands full at home about right now. His time has passed.

[mommya]

Just some of my thoughts tonight...

The more and more I think about this case - the more I think it had to have been an inside job. It's because of the dog. I would never try to gain entry into a house with a dog. Past a relative stranger's dog that I knew existed - no way - but I'd never even attempt it with someone's house I knew with a familiar dog. My brother-in-law has dogs. I know them pretty well. I would never think I could get past them for a break-in. Heck - they are usually barking and causing a commotion (I know Layla allegedly cannot bark - but she still probably does all the other stuff dogs do) as we pull up - before we even get in the house - it's like they can sense it - they want to check you out or greet you or whatever. Same with my inlaws house. They just have a beagle - but even I - someone familiar and non-threatening - would never be able to get past her - I would never think it - I would never try. Maybe someone who did not know the VD's had a dog just got lucky - but I don't think someone who knew they had a dog would ever try the break-in.

[Krodg]

Tony Lanzaratta

[Jaded]

Help me out here please. If you had been one of them/dem you'da knowed you can vote more than once. It's amazing though, on that particular poll, only 1600 hits to the site and almost 200,000 votes? Sound like Chigaco's voting machine, or perhaps Carnahan voting bloc?

[fatima]

Why did they pass the lie detector test and Westerfield was iffy.

[fussybutt]

Can anyone tell me how old the two VD boys are? Thanks.

[mommya]

At the time they were 9 and 5. The oldest has now turned 10 - I'm not sure about the youngest.

[alexandria]

The first guy was arrested 1/27 (name?). Rowland arrested 2/15 near midnight, he's the one from Poway. LE guy was never arrested?

The Americans charged include: Lloyd Alan Emmerson of Fresno County, Calif.; Paul Whitmore and Brooke Rowland, San Diego County, Calif.; Tracy Reynolds, Texas; Leslie Peter Bowcut, Idaho; Michael David Harland, Florida; Harry Eldon Tschernetzki, Washington state; John Zill, South Carolina; Craig Davidson, Kansas. The identity of the tenth American was not immediately available.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/730438/posts

To see a booking record of Paul Whitmore with charges.
http://info.sdsheriff.org/wij/wijDetails.asp?bkNum=2106059&agent=NS

[Jrabbit]

Where did you hear this about the lie detector tests?

[itsahoot]

That's true. I don't think there are a large number of us teenagers from the 1950's left.

CHS class of 1956

[alexandria]

Sorry, meant to add to that that the LE gut from TX killed himself before they could arrest him.

[Jaded]

Derrick is 10 and Dylan is 5 or 6.

[the-gooroo]

Jaded, I don't know what's going on but I feel like I've entered the twilight zone. Twice now I've tried to vote in your poll and twice now my tv screen goes black and I have to hook up all over again. I have web-tv, has this happened to anyone else?

[dread78645]

Ok I missed this one. Was this during a press conference?

Yes, one of the early ones while they still searching.

I take it his mother held up pj's but what did DVD say or do to show he was angry?

I did not personally see the video, but other peoples impressions were that Damon was not happy with it, and then maneuvered grandma to the background.

Later, Brenda explianed about buying "matching" PJ's for a sleep-over friend of Danielles ...

My yougster had a buddy over for a nite, I took 'em to a Hornets basketball game --bought both of them Mugsy Boggs jerseys. When the friend went home the next day he left with the shirt.

[Jaded]

I don't think it's ever been confirmed that David was subjected to a polygraph. One of my sources was very skeptical that a poly ever took place. Redden's statement of untruthfulness was based on an interview.

[Spunky]

I really like the little leashes people are using in the malls. We didn't even think of that when I had little ones.

I sure did. My daughter was born in 1959 and I had one of those leashes for her when she was 1-2 years old. Not because I was concerned about an abdution, but because she would take off in an instant. She had a way of slipping her little hand out of ours and off she went.