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.
Whoops, nancy grace said it again today. I was waiting for someone to correct her. BUT NO...
I recall that Haskell said, no the body would not dehydrate in an enclosed storage compartment, as anyone who knows anything about how bodies mummify would answer. I suggest you check Haskell's testimony on this.
Kim, I'm starting to think you don't want the truth, don't want justice for Danielle, aren't concerned with whether the real killer has been caught. You just want to pick whichever bits out of all the testimony fit your personal theory (which happens to be Dusek's espoused theory). So have at it. I'm done with you now. Talk to people who subscribe to Dusek's theories. Leave me alone. Guess I'm getting tired and testy, too.
OK,brainstorming,and if I'm way off base,discount this. What if the body had been wrapped in something like cheesecloth?(I'm thinking about the deer bags we always used to take hunting-available at WalMart,lightweight cotton open weave cloth. Their intended use is for the wrapping of a freshly killed and skinned carcass,the idea behind them being that they'll allow some air circulation for cooling,but at the same time prevent flies and such from getting to your venison.)
I stated I lived in San Diego because someone on this board assumed I knew nothing about this trial. My point is that if you live in San Diego and have a TV, you know what's happening in this trial.
But since you obviously know the entire story here, please enlighten the rest of us as to some gigantic holes in the prosecution's story. How did Westerfield get the body from his house to the motor home, in broad daylight mind you, with no one noticing? How did he get into the VD home and leave no trace of himself? How did he dispose of the body while he was under 24/7 surveillance?
Of course I dont' know the story, nobody does, except Westerfield. But like everyone else on this board, I do have a theory. I believe this was a crime of opportunity. Westerfield lurked outside the VD home hoping to catch a glimpse of what he "THOUGHT" was going on. I think Danielle was awakened somehow and walked outside. Westerfield, being drunk and pissed off that he wasn't INVITED to the party, snatched Danielle. I think he snapped. It does happen, you know. I don't understand what you mean about when he would have had the opportunity to put her in the motorhome. He took her that night. That is what I think. Am I allowed to have an opinion?
I'm on pins and needles awaiting your "answers."
The most curious thing to me is why this case stirs such emotion from middle aged white men. One can only imagine. One last thing. He was pretty chatty all during the investigation. Pretty odd he didn't take the stand. There is a reason. He did what guilty people do: HE GAVE TOO MANY DETAILS to the police. They have too much to trip him up on .
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