Judge Mudd Refuses Sequester Plea: Westerfield Jury Verdict In Sep? (Aug. 16th Verdict Watch)

Union Trib ^ | August 15, 2002 | Jeff Dillion/Steve Perez

[FresnoDA]

Judge denies defense motion to sequester jury

By Jeff Dillon and Steve Perez
SIGNONSANDIEGO

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.

   

[JudyB1938]

I keep wondering about that journal, myself - but nobody has been able to find out what happened to it. Perhaps it went to the same place the backpack and a whole lot more evidence did ... Never Never Land.

[hoosiermama]

Judy, do you remember the TIME article on the Hindu goddes Kali?..... WHere virgin sacrifices used to be and are still sometimes done? That the area I've been researching today. CHeck this out

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:_go7CkZacloC:www.kalimandir.org/library/libraryhome.asp%3Fpage%3Darticles%26item%3D08_is_kali.xml+%22goddess+Kali%22/%22left+foot%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Another left foot = evil.

[Bluebird Singing]

How did Feldman know about the phone call to ask the question to Brenda? She seemed so surprised/confused.

[hoosiermama]

Here's another tidbit:

While someone unfamiliar with the Shakti worship may perceive Kali's images as equally terrible without making the slightest distinction between them, the Hindu distinguishes a benign Kali (dakshina) from a fearful Kali (smashan) by the position of her feet. If Kali steps out with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is a Dakshina Kali. If she steps out with her left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible of the Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground.

[juzcuz]

See I keep wondering about that journal too. Was It silver, did any of you find out why was it "silver".. I looked up 'ceramic cafe' and at one time they offered - it as a ball of shockingly metal silver that could be transfigured into forms-ceramic forms- Then they disinformed it (the line of metal that could be transformed) I'm still thinking that the metal from ceramic cafe, was the siver from the journal. Does any one have any questions like me????

[dread78645]

How did Feldman know about the phone call to ask the question to Brenda?

I've got the feeling Feldman gets little birdy whispers from the other side.

SDPD seems tight-knit and tolerates officers blurring the ethical line.
The DA's office has several malcontents that are unhappy with Pfingst and the way he does things. Mole in the DA's office ?

[fnord]

wow

All the gubmint bureaucrats and so-called social workers involved in that case ought to be brought up on criminal charges. I know this has happened elsewhere (i.e. Janet Reno), but it is truly frightening to read every time it happens.

And it goes to show SD LE and the criminal (in)justice system are certainly not above twisting facts, manufacturing and overlooking evidence, and abusing a child to get her to accuse her father. May they all rot in hell ... soon!

[JudyB1938]

All I kept thinking as I was reading that webpage is this ... no wonder the Left is called "the left"! And I'm being serious.

But back to the left foot ... since our country is being third-worlded and becoming religious-homogeneous, we'd better stop keeping our heads in the sand and laughing at other people's beliefs. They are creeping into our main line of rational thought in very insidious ways.

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN ... HOCUS POCUS ... DEATH TO THE INFIDEL

"You put your left foot out
You put your left foot in
You put your left foot out
Then you shake it all about
That's why you do when you do
the Hokey-Pokey."

Dance, anyone?

[JudyB1938]

I know nothing of that silver you're talking about. Please be sure to ping me if you find out.

[Bluebird Singing]

I may be left-handed, but I am right-footed. I swear!!! I'm starting to get a complex with all this sinister talk!!

[JudyB1938]

Just as long as you keep bringing us happiness, everything will be all right. :0)

But the funniest birthday card I ever saw was:

"May the bluebird of happiness .... (to the inside) ... Crap all over your birthday cake."

On a serious note, it used to be that left-handed children suffered terribly from people trying to make them right-handed. There's some superstition attached to that, too, but I think the left-foot topic is enough for me right now. That has me upset enough, speculating it might be involved in a satanic killing of Danielle Van Dam.

If her foot was the more commonly-held view of having been dragged off by animals, that would be so much better. However, we must bear in mind there are some evil, crazy people out there who lie in wait to do awful things to people.

[juzcuz]

Don't know about KALI
But I've been studing lately about the triple Moon goddess (Spiral symbol-Pagan-Sicilian -Italian-GK). Mother earth, demeter (initiator), the maiden, Persephone- child). The Crone, wisdom-(sponsor-). It's really interesting because Persephone gets abducted by (Hades- 'Dehesa')-god of the underworld) The entire (GK)tradgedy is is associated with the festival "Imbolic"..

This is a new and shocking to me because, I never would have imagined it all.

[JudyB1938]

I believe many myths are based on life. Have you figured out what it could really be describing?

[juzcuz]

plese help me----figure it out---- I kn0w I'm grasping because --- JUZCUZ

[Spunky]

If someone else can find actual transcriptions to prove that the videos were actual Kiddie Porn

I don't think you will find any transcripts that prove the videos are actual Kiddie Porn. They are anima or Hinta (sp) which the Supreme Court said was not child porn.

I don't know if you have noticed but after the media left us all to believe the video was a real child being raped, they are just now saying the "cartoon video rape scene."

[Bluebird Singing]

When I was in first grade in '61, one of the first grade teachers used belts to tie left-hands behind their back to force them to use the right hand. Thank goodness I had a different teacher.

I agree with your feelings concerning Danielle. I think we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg. We lived in Alpine and my husband worked in El Cajon from '74 to '76. We traveled Dehesa Road many times. One thing I recall about the San Diego area was there seemed to be a lot of occult activity and a lot of strange religions.

[JudyB1938]

Heck, I'm too lazy to do that. LOL I thought maybe you'd studied it enough to have come to some conclusions.

However, maybe I'm asking you to stray too far away from the off-shoot (tinfoil?) theory of Danielle's missing left foot.

It is interesting to learn new things though, isn't it?

[JudyB1938]

The only weird thing I ever saw in California was a guy in a white robe who used to roam around at Laguna Beach in the early 60's. Did you ever see that guy?

[CAPPSMADNESS]

I don't know if you have noticed but after the media left us all to believe the video was a real child being raped, they are just now saying the "cartoon video rape scene."

If the rape videos were actually smutoons, then why all the spin??? Why not come out and tell the truth for once? (I know, I'm really reaching here!)And why oh why are people still believing that they were actual child porn??

Not that I don't trust you Spunky, but can anyone else verify that they have heard this via the media? I have'nt, but I don't watch alot of TV.

[juzcuz]

I'm fighting with myself, because I'm not an accuser. I feel like I can't say exactly right now is 'absolutely' what I know. It's only what I'm leaning toward, because I'm just getting filled in on spiritual dynamics that I was not in tuned with. I'm wishing someone would say absolutely what it is all about for me, then I would not have to search unaswered questions anymore.

Nevertheless, about 'Ceramics Cafe, San Diego. They were offering some thing called "Silver Alchemy". Even look up Silver Achemy, San Diego. The line of clay was once offered by ceramic cafe today another pottery shop might feature it in that area. It was discontinued because, it was not condusive to the philosphy of ceramics cafe. I once had notes on this subject, but I think I threw them away one day out of frustration (I can't find them)..