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.
That's a good question, KC. I've wondered, since it was reported that one of the detectives asked Denise, if PDVD was some kind of a spy, if steering of the investigation, away from the VD's, wasn't more the result of a highly placed Federal source, rather than local LE, as some here have speculated. Possibly FBI, CIA, or NSA and possibly someone closely associated with the VD's social circles.
I've never brought it up, because, as good a movie plot as it might make, I'm not convinced of its actual likelihood, myself. But, if it were somehow to be the case, it would account for both the bizarre (IMO) spy question - posed to Denise - and the very early interest shown by FBI.
Well aren't you the presumtuous one. Does living in San Diego give you some special way to know the case inside and out?
I happen to live in San Diego County and have immediate family in law enforcement. In fact, I knew about the swinging before it ever became public, but guess what..........I don't know any more about this case than everyone else who has followed the trial.
You're no one special and you know nothing more than the next guy. Disagree if you want, but get off the superior knwoledge bit. We all know better, Brunhilda.
How do you explain the unindentified prints in the VD home?..especially the one on the desk next to her bed?
How do you explain the unidentified DNA on her multi colored blanket?
How do you explain the human blood on the garage floor that was came back w/non reportable results?
How do you explain the mattress pad and fabric headboard had none of her trace?
How do you explain that the dogs did not hit on the MH?
I have asked just a few questions that are part of my reasonable doubt..if you need to wait for Nancy Grace to call you back with answers, just ping me.
Beth Karas was SOOOOO excited she had a real date?! A man took her out to eat?! Could it be because all she wants to talk about is her hair, her nails, her clothes...her, her, her??!
sw
Sheeesh.......Note to self: Never type fast.
sw
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