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.
There are no possums in former Yugoslavia, but there were lots of loose pigs after the war... so saw lots of what pigs will do, but no first-hand experience with possums in such a situation. I couldn't eat pork for a year after that. I could tell stories, but won't.
But why bother to go through all that trouble? unless of course it is a particular ritual of the perp's (seriel killer)
any small differences ref livor mortis could be put down to animals pulling at the body
I agree entirely!
I agree that the most logical and straightforward explanation is that she was, indeed, killed around Feb 14-18. Rather unpleasant conclusion, but certainly the most logical one.
But then what about the blood near the driveway of the VanDam home? and in their house? I have always wondered about this, almost gives the impression that the child might have been injured in either of these two areas (automobile?)but there were no blunt trauma injurues and not enough evidence to show any major soft tissue damage.
Do you have any theories about the childs missing teeth?
Well after my e-mail (& prolly a thousand others), they haven't reported Dave Westerfield steam-cleaned his RV again.
BLUE GRAY FIBERS
Blue-gray fibers found in greater number on the victim also matched fibers found in Westerfield's home, she said, noting that the evidence was indeed more conclusive when taken as a whole. "The fact that it is in so many places... it's certainly an additive effect," Shen said.
The orange fiber found in van Dam's necklace, Shen testified, was everywhere in Westerfield's home. The witness told the court that it matched 20 to 30 fibers found in Westerfield's washer, 50 to 100 found on top of the washer, another 50 to 100 in his laundry, and 10 to 20 found in the bedding in his master bedroom.
FIBER
the fiber came into contact with her body at or near the time of death according to shen. (See cyncoopers post) More transcript excerpts from cyncooper
Tanya DuLaney, criminalist (See article or transcripts for verification
"I was specifically looking for types of fibers we had seen in the case; primarily I was looking for orange acrylic fibers and blue nylon fibers," DuLaney said. "And I found a number of blue nylon fibers on tape lifts from the various areas of the upholstery fabric in the motor home." They match 19 blue fibers found in the sheet that was used to wrap the victim's body recovered in East County. "n all the ways I measured and compared the fibers, the fibers from the motor home were the same as the fibers found on the sheet," DuLaney said.
Jennifer Shen, another SDPD criminalist, went on to describe how she found orange acrylic fibers on a towel in Westerfield's SUV and the interior of the SUV that were similar to a fiber found on the victim's necklace. Shen said she found 12 fibers in the SUV's interior: one on the front passenger seat; four on the rear passenger arm rest and seven on the back seat area. She said two of the fibers were excluded as having a common source, but that a representative sample of the 12 was similar to fibers found in Westerfield's home and on the victim's body.
21 Q. DID YOU FIND ANY HAIRS IN THAT LINT?22 A. YES, I DID.23 Q. DESCRIBE THEM PLEASE.24 A. I FOUND THREE HUMAN HAIRS THAT ARE BLOND AND I ALSO25 FOUND 18 DOG HAIRS.
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28 Q. DID THE 18 ANIMAL HAIRS APPEAR TO BE SIMILAR TO ONE59691 ANOTHER?2 A. YES, THEY DID.
10 FROM THE HALLWAY OF THE MOTOR HOME OF MR. WESTERFIELD.11 Q. DID YOU EXAMINE THAT CARPET SECTION LABELED NO. 74?12 A. YES, I DID.13 Q. DID YOU FIND ANYTHING IN IT?14 A. YES, I DID.15 Q. WHAT?16 A. I FOUND ONE BLOND HUMAN HAIR, TWO DOG HAIRS AND17 THREE LIGHT COLORED CARPET FIBERS
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5 Q. DID YOU PACKAGE THAT ITEM AND PREPARE IT FOR6 SHIPMENT TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION?7 A. YES, I DID.8 Q. WHY?9 A. THE COMPARISON OF HAIRS IS NOT AN INDIVIDUALIZING10 TECHNIQUE, BUT THE ADDITION OF D. N. A. ANALYSIS CAN POINT MORE11 CLOSELY TO AN INDIVIDUAL. SO THE MICROSCOPIC COMPARISON OF12 HAIRS IS TYPICALLY AUGMENTED WITH A D. N. A. ANALYSIS NOW.13 Q. IS THAT WHY THAT PARTICULAR HAIR WAS PACKAGED AND14 TO BE SENT TO THE F. B. I.?15 A. YES, IT WAS.
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12 A. THAT MEANS THAT TWO OR MORE PEOPLE CAN HAVE HAIR13 THAT YOU CAN'T DISTINGUISH BASED ON THE MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION14 OF THE HAIR.15 Q. HOW DOES D. N. A. PLAY A ROLE IN THAT?16 A. D. N. A. CAN PLAY A ROLE IN THAT IF IT CAN BE17 ANALYZED EITHER WITH NUCLEAR D. N. A. IF THERE HAPPENS TO BE
That's just a snippet of testimony.. wrt:the dogs...the defense won that one.
Yep, they did it. Nancy Grace was saying it again today. I believe that woman just loves to be hated.
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