Arguing that media coverage was creating a "lynch mob mentality" that could pressure jurors to return a guilty verdict, the defense attorney for David Westerfield today asked the judge yet again to sequester the jury. Posted on 08/16/2002 6:39:20 AM PDT by FresnoDA
August 15, 2002
Arguing that media coverage was creating a "lynch mob mentality" that could pressure jurors to return a guilty verdict, the defense attorney for David Westerfield today asked the judge yet again to sequester the jury.
While the jury completed its first week of deliberations without a verdict, Superior Court Judge William Mudd denied the request and a related motion to "pull the plug" on television and radio coverage of the courtroom proceedings, but agreed to set aside a private room for jurors to take breaks. Defense attorney Steven Feldman had argued that reports suggested jurors felt like they were under siege, unable to leave their deliberating room, go to lunch or walk home without being watched or followed.
"We have no assurance that they are not be intimidated ... by the presence of the media," Feldman told Mudd during a morning hearing. "We can think of only one fair resolution to that: Get the jury out of harm's way."
Westerfield, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of kidnapping 7-year-old Danielle van Dam from her family's Sabre Springs home on Feb. 2 and killing her. Jurors are in their sixth day of deliberations.
Lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek disagreed with Feldman's interpretations of the jury's complaints.
"Whether or not any guilty verdict in this case would be based on a siege mentality or the meida I think is pure speculation and utterly false in this case," Dusek said.
What the jurors had complained about was being watched all the time, he said.
"That hardly equates to being under siege," he said.
Media coverage has diminished since the jurors began deliberating, the judge said.
"The synopsis programs on the two local TV networks are not in place," he said. "The talking heads are doing nothing but speculating about what the jury may or may not be thinking."
Mudd said there were no signs that jurors were being harassed by the public, especially since their names and faces haven't been publicized.
"We've all sat here and picked this jury, know their makeup and know their dedication to this cause," Mudd said. "I would prefer to think that any verdict they make in this case would be based upon the evidence."
Sequestering the jury also wouldn't protect them from any public reaction to the verdict, Mudd said.
Mudd took aim at two radio program hosts from Los Angeles who he previously described as "idiots."
"I suppose it's entertainment out of LA. I hope it stays in LA," he said. "The shows those two gentlemen put on made the court incredulous as to what they were attempting to do."
Mudd also announced:
On July 9, Shen's testimony interrupted presentation of defense witnesses. Shen, a San Diego police criminalist, testified about re-examining a group of fibers she had collected from Westerfield's 4Runner in February.
The orange acrylic fibers, found in various places inside the SUV, were the same color and fabric as a fiber tangled in a plastic necklace that Danielle was wearing when authorities found her body in a hollow off Dehesa Road, Shen testified at the time.
All the fibers looked identical under a microscope and appeared to have the same chemical makeup when tested using infrared technology, she said.
Shen said the fibers seem "most likely to have come from something that was very loosely knit," such as a sweater or blanket.
"You folks are going to deal with my PR person. You're going to leave my bailiff and my clerk alone," Mudd told reporters in the courtroom. "One statement leads to 60 questions that they're not going to answer and neither am I."
Mudd decided to turn the daily updates over to the court's public information officer after deciding that an informal system set up to have a bailiff or court clerk provide updates had failed.
"There was a simple note that they started at 9, they left at 4 left you chomping on bit to get copies," He said. "You're welcome to them, they'll be available as soon as we gett the minute order."
Reporters and members of the public will not be informed immediately about notes passed by the jury, Mudd said. The judge said he had procedure to follow, that includes notifying the attorneys involved in the case about the note and determining the appropriate response.
"This is a capital case and you go by steps," Mudd said.
3am is best. :-)
The excerpt is referencing the jacket in particular, btw.
Nawww....I learned to bring chocolates during that little restraining order ordeal...I'm growing on her.:-)
Click here for one prosecutor's analysis of this question. He gloats about defendants "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" by taking the stand.
Westerfield said he got up at 0630, showered, and drove in his Toyota 4Runner to fetch the motorhome from its rented parking space, 8.5 miles away. Based on witnesses' testimony, the motorhome arrived in the neighborhood around 0830. Check out Court TV's timeline.
The carpet fibers were disturbed during testing. the carpet is still available to be retested, just not in the original condition.
All of the photographs were taken after testing. No way to view the stains in the original context. This was sloppy work.
What is your theory on what happened to Danielle? I've been torn about this case, too. It's too creepy to be so easily solved.
My theory on Danelle is that Westerfield had nothing to do with it.
* My instinct is to look for a connection between Damon Van Dam and that international porn ring and would find out the purpose of that cable that the Demon jerked out before the cops could examine it. Could he have been sharing sexual abuse on his daughter like the other fathers who belonged to that ring? Did he use the cable to do it?
* Then I would iluminol that spot on the floor that he steam cleaned, claiming the dog wet on the floor.
* Then I would find out whose unidentified finger prints they are, as well as the unidentified blood on the staircase and outside on the cement.
* Then I would find out where the dog bed went to and if it was the means of carrying off Danielle's body.
* There's a lot more "thens", but one of the most important is ... then I would find out whose unidentified DNA was in her bed !!! It was not Westerfield's.
In addition ...
* I would question the "coincidence" of Van Dam and his friend who flew in from Florida being in the vicinity of where her body was found on the day the bug evidence indicates her body was dumped in that spot.
* I would find that blue van of his that he got rid of so fast that was BLUE (blue paint was found under Danielle's fingernails).
There's more - a WHOLE LOT more - but that will get you to thinking, maybe.
I would like to be sure to point out though that there is no forensic evidence of Westerfield in the Van Dam house. The dogs did not hit on the motor home as to Danielle's scent, nor did the dogs did not hit on Westerfield in the Van Dam home.
Oh, did I tell you that the policeman who interviewed him and got the warrants is the same policeman who has been proven to planting evidence on innocent people in the past? There are hints and clues that he did the same thing to Westerfield. Too long to summarize here.
Anyway, I summoned you to this thread instead of the one you pinged me on. I thought maybe you'd like to read further to add to the short synopsis above.
Good luck. These threads have been going on daily for MONTHS. Takes a long time to get through them. But this thread is a good place to start, even if it is at the end. If you have any questions, just holler. Somebody will be pleased to answer anything you are confused about.
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