Judge Again Denies Request To Sequester Jury
Updated: 6:00 p.m. PDT August 15, 2002
Jurors have been deliberating for six days on whether Westerfield should be convicted of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.
Even though one alternate juror reported being followed, Mudd said it wasn't necessary to put the jurors in a hotel.
"Apparently it is an ongoing problem," Mudd said.
The judge said he and his staff would deal with the problem internally.
Mudd agreed to find a place for the jurors to take their breaks during deliberations where they couldn't be seen by reporters.
"Sequestration would not save them from the media," Mudd said of the jurors, calling them a "dedicated and hard-working" group of people.
Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography in connection with the death of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.
The twice-divorced self-employed design engineer could face the death penalty if the jury convicts him of killing his Sabre Springs neighbor and finds true a special circumstance allegation that the murder happened during a kidnapping.
Many experts and self-appointed pundits have speculated on how long it might take to reach verdicts or whether a hung jury is possible.
The jury Wednesday asked for readback of the testimony of San Diego police criminalist Jennifer Shen, when she was recalled to testify about orange fibers that allegedly link Westerfield to the victim.
Jurors have also reviewed all of the pornographic evidence in the case and asked to look at photographs that Westerfield had taken of his ex-girlfriend's teenage daughter, according to court documents.
Prosecutors told the jury that one photo of the daughter lying by the pool was sexually suggestive.
Jurors also re-listened to a taped interview the defendant gave to a police interrogation specialist on Feb. 4, two days after Danielle's mother discovered the second-grader missing from her bed.