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Judge Mudd Refuses Sequester Plea: Westerfield Jury Verdict In Sep? (Aug. 16th Verdict Watch)
Union Trib ^
| August 15, 2002
| Jeff Dillion/Steve Perez
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."
'Broccoli heads'
He cited an incident earlier in the week in which radio talk show hosts from KFI-AM 640 in Los Angeles broadcast from outside the courthouse, waving stalks of broccoli around and reportedly calling jurors "broccoli heads" for being unable to return a quick guilty verdict. 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.
Trust in the jury
Mudd dismissed most of Feldman's concerns, saying that the jurors had only asked a bailiff to keep reporters a little bit farther away, though an alternate juror reported that he or she had been followed to his car. 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.
'The activities of a few'
"The tragedy is, the majority of the people in this courtroom are abiding by the court's orders and working very hard to insure they, meaning the media, do not cause something to occur that is going to cause a mistrial," Mudd said. "Not all of them feel that way as is very apparent with the activities of a few." 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:
- The jury asked to review the recall testimony of prosecution witness Jennifer Shen, a criminalist with the San Diego Police Department.
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.
- Reporters will no longer be allowed to ask questions of the court's bailiff and clerk.
"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.
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To: just me
The guy maybe a "flake" but did you read the website of the guy that went to the house and was giving pages from her journal?
To: FresnoDA
Could you re-report the journal story?
To: mommya
http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/witnesses-sta.html
Brief rundown of each prosecution witness, plus pictures.
The Peer woman is the witness who has fed the most fuel to the fire of guilt. Did she work in consiracy with Detective Ott?
***
Annette Peer, DNA analyst, San Diego Police Dept.
* Searched Westerfield's home and RV in the days following Danielle's disappearance and found three blood stains in Westerfield's motor home
* Performed DNA analysis and said that a blood stain found on Westerfield's jacket matched Danielle's DNA profile — a frequency being 1 in 670 quadrillion
* Testified that a blood stain found in the carpet of Westerfield's RV also matched Danielle's DNA profile — a frequency of 1 in 130 quadrillion
To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
I was thinking the same thing - I wonder.
To: JudyB1938
Is she the one who forgot to photograph the evidence before performing tests? Therefore there is nothing for the jury to look at showing the evidence as it was found? This is "the blood" evidence in totality, correct?
To: Bluebird Singing
I do believe you're correct.
Imagine! Also, showing up with a polaroid camera instead of a 35 mm, where the film could be analyzed later.
Don't those people ever watch Forensics TV to see how it's done right? (Yes, I'm being sarcastic)
To: JudyB1938
Thanks Judy. I have to wonder. That article made it seem like she either intentionally overlooked evidence - or was too stupid to see it. I go with - intentionally overlooked evidence - which would have exhonnerated(sp.) an innocent person - and which would have determined the real culprit. If she would do it in one case - why wouldn't she do it in another? Stinky stinky.
To: CAPPSMADNESS
Since some people seem unconcerned with the actual testimony, I thought I'd direct this to someone who is interested in the testimony. This is from Marcus Lawson....
Q DO THESE IMAGES INCLUDE IMAGES BEYOND OR IN
ADDITION TO THOSE THAT WERE SHOWN TO THE JURY
YESTERDAY?
A YES, SIR, THEY DO.
Q I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOU, IF I COULD, ANOTHER
EXHIBIT THAT'S BEEN PREVIOUSLY MARKED, WHAT HAS
BEEN DESCRIBED AS A SERIES OF PAGES MARKED EXHIBIT 147.
A YES, SIR.
Q DO YOU SEE THAT?
A YES, I DO.
Q DO YOU RECOGNIZE IT?
A YES, I DO.
Q WHAT IS IT?
A THESE ARE A SET OF ANIMATED OR, I'M SORRY, GRAPHIC
IMAGE FILES OR ANIME' AS THEY ARE CALLED THAT WERE
RETRIEVED, I RECOVERED FROM ONE OF THE ZIP DISKS.
Q IN ITEM NUMBER 12?
A YES, SIR.
Q WHAT DO THESE IMAGES DEPICT?
A THEY ARE A SERIES OF OR TWO SERIES, EACH SERIES
APPEARS TO BE -- DEPICT WHAT APPEARS TO BE A YOUNG
GIRL WHO IS ASSAULTED, BOUND, AND THEN ULTIMATELY
RAPED.
Q THE IMAGES APPEAR TO BE OF A CHILD.
MR. FELDMAN: YOUR HONOR, CAN YOU NOTE A CONTINUING
OBJECTION.
THE COURT: I WILL NOTE THAT FOR THE RECORD.
BY MR. CLARKE:
Q PERHAPS YOU CAN KEEP THEM FLAT, MR. WATKINS.
A SORRY.
Q DO THEY DEPICT THE TYING AND BINDING OF A CHILD?
A YES.
Q AND THE SEXUAL ASSAULT OF THAT CHILD?
A YES, SIR.
Q DO THEY ALSO INCLUDE TEXT?
A YES, THEY DO.
Q WHAT IS TEXT?
A TEXT IS JUST WORDS THAT ARE SUPERIMPOSED ON TOP OF
THE -- OF EACH FRAME OR EACH GRAPHIC IMAGE.
Q DOES THERE APPEAR TO BE TEXT WITH REGARD TO WHAT,
ALL OF THE IMAGES IN THAT PARTICULAR EXHIBIT, SOME OF
THEM, WHAT?
A EACH IMAGE HAS SOME TEXT ON IT.
Q OKAY.
JUST GENERALLY WHAT IS THE TYPE OF TEXT THAT'S
CONTAINED ON THEM?
A GENERALLY SPEAKING IT -- THE -- IT DEPICTS A GIRL BEING
SURPRISED BY SOMEBODY BEHIND THEM. ANOTHER ONE
DEPICTS SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT A GIRL WHO -- THAT HAD
A BUMP ON THEIR HEAD AND HOW THEY WANTED TO DO
SEXUAL ACTS ON THEM. SOME OF THE WORDS WE'RE
TALKING ABOUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT ARE YOU
GOING TO DO.
Q OKAY.
DO THEY GENERALLY DEPICT WHAT ONE PERSON IS SAYING
IN THE ANIME' AND THEN WHAT THE OTHER PERSON IS
SAYING AS WELL?
A YES, SIR.
Q INCLUDING WORDS OF THE CHILD?
A YES.
Q DOES THAT EXHIBIT CONSIST OF JUST ONE SERIES OR MORE
THAN ONE SERIES?
A IT CONSISTS OF TWO SERIES.
Q IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO SERIES?
A THEY ARE DIFFERENT, BUT THEY ARE -- THEY ARE
DIFFERENT SERIES, BUT THEY ARE SIMILAR IN THEME.
MR. CLARKE: YOUR HONOR, I'VE ALSO PREVIOUSLY MARKED
AND DESCRIBED FOR THE RECORD A SERIES OF ADDITIONAL
PAGES MARKED EXHIBIT 148.
What live action is going to have written dialogue in it?
I have looked other than the words child or children there is not an instance where they specified that they were pre-pubescent IE:true Kiddie Porn. The ages of the girls, where they are actually people and not anime, is questionable.
1,608
posted on
08/18/2002 1:20:19 PM PDT
by
Jaded
To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
Thanks, Kim - we are having some pretty good thunder boomers here so I had to shut down for a while.
Okay, I see in your infromation that he had smutoons, A file labled young ones and that his file system was very orderly, very interesting, apparently Mr. Westerfield liked his porn very much. Although I find his fetish quite distasteful, it still isn't illegal.
But I fail to see any direct statement that this was indeeed Kiddie porn. If you type "young ones" into a search engine, you would get numerous hits and not necessarily having to do with children. Or am I missing something here? I am trying to get the kids closets ridded out for the school year... so I am kinda preoccupied.
To: Jaded
Thank you fro answering my original question Jaded, I did attempt to look - but the lightening got very bad here.
If someone else can find actual transcriptions to prove that the videos were actual Kiddie Porn, I would appreciate the help. I have not had much luck.
I am not trying to be argumentative, but I am searching for answers.....
To: Bluebird Singing
Said early in the year that I didn't think anything would come of Condidit until after the fall election. I'll stand by it.
I too would like information on the pulled cable? The only reason I can think that something would be removed is if it were illegal. OTOH it may just be a "f"rumor.
To: All
http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/witnesses-sta.html
Go read the descriptions of the testimonies from the prosecution witnesses. When the testimony was discounted/proven wrong by the defense, it doesn't tell that part. This is why there are some who say the forensics prove Westerfield is guilty.
To: juzcuz
Can somebody tell me what Brenda Van Dam's maiden name is or was????? Cole or Coleman ...
To: Jaded; UCANSEE2; John Jamieson; FresnoDA; hoosiermama
Still looking for information about that cable the Demon pulled. I can't remember the details or the source.
To: dread78645; juzcuz
Opps. see you already got the correct answer 'Cope'
running to catch up ...
To: JudyB1938
Can you find any reference to left foot in those posts?
To: hoosiermama
There was a brief mention of the left foot, but more of a placement thing than anything else. If you run a google on wicca / "left foot", several things come up. Just reading the headers, it looks like it's all about the same type of stuff. I couldn't find any death rituals about it. However, I did not do an indepth search.
To: John Jamieson
"did you read the website of the guy that went to the house and was giving pages from her journal? "
No I haven't seen it. I was just wondering what happened to the journal..thanks...
To: All
When this trial is finally concluded, no matter what the outcome, another jury needs to look at this case. A Grand Jury. There is so much incompetance by LE in this case that I think it is actually criminal. The people in this county are definately not getting their monies worth at the least, and are funding a criminal conspiracy at the most.
I know that the Grand Jury normally operates at the behest of the DA, but they are by defination an independant group that can examine anything it wishes.
To: hoosiermama
http://faithrocks.tripod.com/fic/interludes3.html
In fiction, reality is often revealed. In this story online above, the bad guy has to use sick people ...
"The problem that persisted was that anyone he used had to already be flawed, in some way. A healthy person would almost certainly be able to survive the process, but a healthy person was beyond his power. The desperately ill, or critically injured were what he needed, but those same people were often pushed over the brink by the supernatural poison that he shed into their bodies."
So maybe that's why the satanists use children. They are "not flawed" and easier to manipulate.
In case anybody came late to this discussion on the occult, the subject is being examined in light of the International Porn Ring just uncovered in San Diego by Swedish authorities. It doesn't necessarily mean WE believe in this junk. In addition, one of the satanic rituals seems to be cutting the left foot off or putting a sock on it.
Example of missing left feet: Danielle and Chandra
Examples of sock on left foot: Two girls in Texas
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