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.

   

[Freedom2specul8]

If the bodies in those cases were not mummified, I don't see how they could appeal. I hope this helps explain what I'm saying. From what I understand..it's rare to find a body in Danielle's condition. The mummification would actually reduce the ammount of appeals I would think..

[Freedom2specul8]

Check out transcript excerpts from #438

[wonders]

SO you think it IS strange--and would you agree that mummification could be an explanation at all?

Yes, I think it strange. No, I do not think partial mummification (her body was partially mummified) would account for it. Yes, the extremities and skin were mummified, but the organs in the thorax and abdomen were not mummified (and it would be stranger still if they were!) Most of the liquids which would drain out of body come from the abodmen and thorax. So, why no drainage of the fluids, none at all?

[Freedom2specul8]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/transcripts/20020725-9999-pm1.html

Q AND BASED UPON THOSE NUMBERS AND THE REST OF YOUR DATA, WHAT DID YOU DETERMINE THE P.M.I. TO BE?A I LOOKED AT THE FINDINGS OF MR. FAULKNER AND DR. HASKELL, THE ENTOMOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, AND I'M BEING NOT A FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGIST, I'M NOT GOING TO ARGUE OR TRY TO INTERPRET NECESSARILY THEIR DATA. I DID ALSO LOOK AT THE REPORT OF DR. CYRIL WECHT WHO WAS CONSULTED AND, OF COURSE, DR. BLACKBOURNE WHO CONDUCTED THE AUTOPSY AND PROVIDED TESTIMONY. AND BASED ON THE OVER-ALL EVIDENCE AND LOOKING AT THE METEOROLOGICAL SITUATION, I AM MAKING MY ESTIMATE BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE AND WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT HAVE BEEN RELAYED. AND I'M MAKING AN ESTIMATE.AND IN MY ESTIMATE I, BASED ON THE GROSS DECOMPOSITIONAL CHANGES, NOT THE FLIES, I CAN LOOK, CERTAINLY USE THE FLIES AS SOME EVIDENCE FOR SOME TIME WINDOW, BUT WHAT I'M RELYING ON AS A FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST ARE THE GROSS PHYSICAL CHANGES THAT I SEE IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

AND BASED ON MY REVIEW OF ALL THE MATERIAL, I CAME UP WITH AN ESTIMATE OF APPROXIMATELY FOUR TO SIX WEEKS.

[Freedom2specul8]

As far as I know, the only one who has evern touched upon that is the mummyologist..

[BigBobber]

NOTICE: the defense did not deny all the child porn. Just questioned SOME of the ages. The bottom line will be what the jury saw and heard. What made them cry?


Kim, movie makers make people cry all the time. They're good at it! That doesn't mean what you see on the screen is real. There are many rape sceens in Hollywood films that make people cry. They're not real.

Hollywood (and I assume porn makers) have always used older actors to portray younger people whenever they can. That way they avoid child labor laws and the like. You can pretty much bet any actor playing a mid-to-late teen in TV or movies is over 18.

I just saw "The Graduate" on TV and looked it up on the 'net. Guess what. Dustin Hoffman (the kid) was 31 at the time, and Anne Bancroft (the older woman) was 36.

No one in the public can say if DW had child porn, 'cause none of us have seen it. That's up to the jury to decide. Hopefully they will base their verdict on analysis of the evidence and not emotion.

[wonders]

From what I understand..it's rare to find a body in Danielle's condition.

No, it's not rare. I've seen LOTS of bodies in that condition.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

What's a mummyologist?

[domestice]

small1, I thought it was kind of neat too.

I know its probably nitpicking that the bkground of the slides were 2 different colors, but it just seems the LE has been so shoddy w/ this case. Especially considering they broke protocol & used polaroid, instead of 35 mm w/ some of the pics of evidence...why? I know they are human too..but are these just accidents/oversights, or intentional?

< Yepper. Most judges allow the defense much more lee-way than the state. >

Dread, that is what I thought...its all very unsettling.

[mouser]

you sound like you have an amount of experience in this area

i have long felt she was placed here very soon after death due to the odor you can get on you from a ripe corpse

two thoughts on the lack of fluid

if the ground was mainly sand or gravel would it leach deep enough into the ground that the investigators missed it

the other thought if she died and was placed there on say feb 15 then within 18 hours or so fly's lay eggs in vigina /rectom ares they hatch and enter then within 36-48 hours a wild dog or such find her rip open intestineal area and removet the intestines and liver(greay trail leading from body) would there be enough air to evaporate the rest of the fluid with what the maggots consume

i wish i knew how much fluid a 60 pound girl would have in her some would be lost with the intestines and any organd removed and some would evaporate form the open cavity how much is the question i don't know

if you think i am off on a tangent please tell me
thanks

[the Deejay]

"But a man who slips up one time in his use of language is definitely guilty in my book."

It's amazing how many people are ready to convict him on the
"we" slip up alone. To which I asked them, "So, are you saying Danielle and DW were spending a jolly weekend together, tossing around ideas to each other as to where they should go next?"

Never got an answer of any kind by any one of them.

[juzcuz]

I've been thinking about teeth as well. There was alot of 'mush' found in her (lower jaw/mouth) due to putrification (rot-decay=advanced peridontal (gum) deterioration). Her bottom teeth, lower jaw full of teeth those teeth should have been 'floating' out of place (pardon my exaggeration). Blackburn and Sperber found bottom teeth all there and in place? Yet, her upper 'dry' (left and right)lateral incisors - adult teeth, not only out of place, but were gone?? Inspite of the fact that her central incisors (central front teeth-adult teeth) were there- Blackburn and Sperber testified to that fact. I am questioning because, I don't understand, their reasoning.

That the rot was greater on the upper left and right lateral incisors than on the central incisors (front teeth) than even in the lower jaw that was described "like mud".

[pinz-n-needlez]

A student of mummyology?

Who writes with a mummyograph?

[wonders]

Good post! And good catch on perhaps if the soil was sandy, fluids would leach deeper into the soil... still, the fluids are not like water, they are viscous and would cling to any soil particles on the surface, too, I should think. At least that's what I've always seen.

Evaporation might well be the answer... however, I still don't understand why no leakage from the crotch area.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I was visiting in Fresno, CA when this abduction and murder occurred. I'm a little foggy on dates, but I remember that it snowed in Southern CA the week we left, sometime between Feb. 4 and Feb. 7 -- the Grapevine was closed between the Valley and LA. I don't know how far south the snow cover extended, but it was an unusual weather pattern. The temperatures were all over the map while we were out there -- hot, cold, rainy, snowy, foggy -- more rain than I have ever experienced in the Central Valley in my whole lifetime. Does anyone remember what the weather was like in San Diego?

[wonders]

Weather info is posted on Jaded's Stealth Ninja Dave site.

[Jaded]

K. Just sos we all agree. The blowflies didn't get to her completely mummified body until the animals got there first to open her up.

The animal activity couldn't happen till the body was free of barriers.

The barriers were eliminated when the rodents and birds removed the plastic sheet and/or netting she was wrapped up in so they could redecorate their homes. They are fairly small and need to coordinate so, yeah I guess it coulda taken 2 weeks.

/so
Awful lot of comfy creatures in SanDiego 'bout right now.

Playing in background: music from Cinderella, the dress making scene

[Freedom2specul8]

ok, the anthropologist aka mummyologist said 4-6 weeks, and the medical examiner said at first 3 1/2 weekss

http://members.cox.net/jeneal/PrelimTranscripts/PVW311.txt

12 Q WERE YOU ABLE TO DETERMINE HOW LONG SHE'D

13 BEEN DEAD?

14 A WITHIN A BROAD RANGE, YES.

15 Q HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT DETERMINATION?

16 A WELL, JUST EVALUATING THE DECOMPOSITION AND

17 THE OTHER -- THE ANIMAL ACTIVITY, REALLY. IT'S

18 CERTAINLY CONSISTENT WITH THE THREE-AND-A-HALF WEEKS

19 SHE'D BEEN MISSING.

20 THE COURT: I'M SORRY?

21 THE WITNESS: CONSISTENT WITH THE

22 THREE-AND-A-HALF WEEKS THAT SHE HAD BEEN MISSING.

---

http://members.cox.net/jeneal/PrelimTranscripts/020311p1.txt

1 Q. At what point, the 11th -- I mean how far do I go

2 before you say no, I guess is what I'm really asking?

3 A. Well, the body is decomposed and mummified. It

4 certainly has been out there weeks. I don't think it's one

5 week. I think it's more than one week.

6 Q. Okay.

7 A. Two, two and a half, three, three and half. All

8 of those would be consistent.

[Freedom2specul8]

ology = The study of

ologist = A person who studies

socio = society
sociologist= a person who studies society

mummyologist..a person who studies mummys (my personal word)
easier to write then anthropologist I guess. :)

[Freedom2specul8]

for this case anyone..the dude studies mummies.