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.

   

[shezza]

Excellent analysis. Kudos for putting everything so precisely in a nutshell.

[the Deejay]

Why is court tv rerunning Nancy Grace from this morning?
Once a day isn't enough torture for us?

[mommya]

Great find wonders!

[NatureGirl]

Smokey Backroom

Did that section just start? There's one on (ahem) another site, called the Biker Bar, where the main event seems to be bashing FR.

I think it's a clever idea, except for one thing - what if people just want to come in and rant and rave at people for no particular reason? Is that still allowed within the context of the thread? And that includes stalking...In some ways, it seems like it'd just be a "thread-killer".

I'm far more witheringly sarcastic in person. I don't think it would translate well to print. ;-)

[VRWC_minion]

We do know they took a closer look at the fibers. Why bother with them if the bugs were as good as an alibi ?

[clearvision]

Also if the body mummified so quickly in 2 days, why did the mummification stop for the next 4 weeks?

[Jaded]

OTOH, they may find him not guilty of murder and kidnap and guilty on porn. They have to find him guilty of something.

[VRWC_minion]

We don't know which jurors are asking for which evidence

So all we can assume is at least one juror may not believe the bugs of is being methodical.

[KnutCase]

My girl friend says I do a lot of things much younger. Not to brag, though...

[Freedom2specul8]

Hi Wonders!! Long time no see! Nice informative post. But how much experience have those bug experts had with mummified bodies in Danielle's state or condition? I was under the impression little nor none.

Also, if I recall correctly, many animals could have been the culprit, including but not limited to rodents.

[NatureGirl]

The mummification process, which was proven to be able to start and occur with in 24hrs on a small body...

On low-density (low body-fat) areas, such as the hands and feet. NOT areas such as the genitalia. The genitals would not have mummified so quickly, and were also a good entry point for flies, very attractive to them, without any "animal damage".

[small_l_libertarian]

Thoughts on the items the jury has requested ... there may be some reasonable doubters on the jury that are requesting these things to try and sway the guilty voters.

They might be divided just like we are.

[Freedom2specul8]

Correct, her skin was mummified, her brain was intact, the body simply did NOT decompose normally. The winds, temp etc had a lot to do with it. All I'm saying is, that the jury has or will consider the mummification testimony, it could hurt the defense. (I hope they consider it)

[small_l_libertarian]

In my opinion, the mummy stuff was made up out of whole cloth when Dusek realized that Faulkner undermined his whole case. Sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The green bottle flies won't lay eggs on a body that isn't fresh.

[NatureGirl]

I always thought it was the defense that didn't have to prove anything

In this case (per Jeff Dusek) the prosecution didn't have to "prove nuttin' to nobody" neither.

Why bother with that smelly ol' system of justice anyway? Taxpayers could just forward their checks to the DA, everyone gets paid, and the "suspect" (wink wink) gets to meet Mr. Hemp at dawn.

[KnutCase]

"They might be divided just as we are"

No doubt about it, if they were close to agreement from the beginning this trial would be over.

[Freedom2specul8]

The skin is the issue..it was mummified first..the body fluids are the second issue..they did not settle beneath the body like normal. The third issue is that since the body didn't decompose in the normal way, the standards for testing the TOD or even Date of dumping..has to be altered to account for the oddities. (don't you just love normal discussions without the bs)

[Politicalmom]

WHAT???

[NatureGirl]

the newly-exposed underlying organs/tissues would be too decomposed at that stage

Thanks for reminding me of that. I knew there was another reason why the flies wouldn't bother at a late date, even if the animals had been there - and that was the detail I was missing.

[Freedom2specul8]

I think it was shown later that they will, as long as the area has moisture....but I don't have the testimony in front of me.