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A chat room helped Westerfield prosecutors
San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 12/12/02 | Alex Roth

Posted on 12/12/2002 8:19:20 AM PST by Jaded

When a person goes in search of enlightenment, it's usually good advice to avoid an Internet chat room. And yet it was a random posting on the Internet that led to a key piece of evidence in the David Westerfield case.

At a luncheon in Mission Valley yesterday, prosecutors Jeff Dusek and George "Woody" Clarke told a number of anecdotes – some of them funny, others poignant and revealing – about what happened behind the scenes in the most publicized criminal trial in San Diego County history.

The luncheon was organized by the San Diego Crime Commission and about 100 people attended.

The lawyers talked about their late-night strategy sessions, about the emotional toll of the case on their spouses, about moments of inspiration that came from the strangest of places.

They also took some shots at the media coverage – especially the media's treatment of the parents of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam – and revealed some previously undisclosed statements they said were made by Westerfield. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 3 for kidnapping and killing the Sabre Springs second-grader. A jury has recommended the death penalty.

It was Dusek who told the story about the Internet.

During the trial, he said, the lawyers were surfing a Web site where most of the postings were from people convinced of Westerfield's innocence. Several of the postings dealt with the subject of the blond hairs found in Westerfield's motor home.

Prosecutors said the hair proved that Westerfield kidnapped the girl. Westerfield's lawyers said their client often kept the motor home unlocked in the neighborhood and that the girl might have snuck inside at some point to play.

On the chat room, the discussion turned to speculation about whether the prosecution had bothered to find out the date of Danielle's last haircut. The consensus in the chat room was that of course they had.

Actually, they hadn't. They'd never thought to do so.

It turned out that Danielle's last haircut had been five days before her disappearance. After the haircut, her hair was eight inches long – the exact length of the hairs found in the motor home, which hadn't been parked in the neighborhood for several months.

Dusek also revealed the story behind the alleged scratch marks on Westerfield's arm. Pictures of the scratch marks were used as evidence at the preliminary hearing in March – but the jury at Westerfield's trial never heard about them.

The reason: An expert analyzed the marks after the preliminary hearing and couldn't conclusively match them to Danielle's fingers.

"Woody and I are still convinced it's scratch marks," Dusek told the audience. "What else could it be? But we didn't have proof."

Dusek said parts of the trial were particularly draining on his wife, who broke into tears after listening to a media commentator who suggested that the defense's opening statements were more effective that the prosecution's.

He also criticized the media for overhyping the testimony about the van Dams' spouse-swapping and the couple's use of marijuana on the night their daughter vanished.

Discussing what he called the media's vilification of the van Dams, Dusek cited an incident where the couple was lambasted on talk radio for wearing Danielle buttons on their lapels during their testimony at the preliminary hearing.

Noting that the couple immediately removed the buttons from their lapels after leaving the witness stand, one radio reporter suggested that the couple had been making a phony display of their grief to influence the judge.

In reality, the only reason they removed the buttons was because both prosecutors wanted to have them as mementos, Dusek said.

"They walk out of that courtroom without their badges and they get blistered on the radio that night," he said.

Dusek also revealed some statements he said Westerfield made at various points during the trial.

At the start of the trial, just after the prosecution had finished its opening statements, Westerfield was being led down a hallway when he turned to a bailiff and said, "They may as well send me to (San) Quentin right now."

During the penalty phase of the case, when Westerfield's lawyers called friends and family members to the witness stand in an effort to save their client's life, Westerfield looked at his lawyers with a confused expression on his face when one woman approached the stand.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"It's your aunt," his lawyers informed him.

Yesterday, neither Steven Feldman nor Robert Boyce, Westerfield's two main lawyers, returned phone calls seeking comment.

At one point during the presentation, a questioner asked Dusek what he thought about Feldman, whose hyperactive theatrics became well-known to everyone who followed the case.

He called Feldman "a very good attorney." Citing ethics guidelines, Dusek wouldn't comment on a report in the Union-Tribune that Westerfield's lawyers had been trying in February to broker a plea whereby their client would reveal the location of the girl's body in exchange for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.

"He promised a vigorous defense," Dusek said of Feldman. "He did not say his guy was innocent."


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: 180frank; danielle; grouches; guiltyguiltyguilty; jamesons; vandam; westerfield
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To: basscleff
is redsh!tstick giving you lip service?
21 posted on 12/12/2002 1:09:30 PM PST by ican'tbelieveit
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Comment #22 Removed by Moderator

To: redlipstick
So WHAT PART OF TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS constitutes a fan site? You just can't stand it that people don't fall in line like nice little sheeple.

Besides the picture was 2 of your favorite people.
23 posted on 12/12/2002 1:15:07 PM PST by Jaded
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To: BARLF
The bugs don't lie but the jurors believe they do. Yeah.......

They didn't believe the search dogs either. I read the dogs traced Danielle to the empty house next door that was being painted (blue, maybe?) by it's new owners. I wonder how much time, if any, prosecution spent checking that angle.

24 posted on 12/12/2002 1:34:30 PM PST by I. Ben Hurt
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To: Jaded
This is from a transcript:

(THE FOLLOWING OCCURRED OUT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE JURY: PROCEEDINGS NOT PART OF THE PUBLIC RECORD. (END OF PROCEEDINGS OUT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE JURY.) THE COURT: GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND WELCOME BACK. I HAD HOPED WHEN WE NEXT MET THAT THE PADRES WOULD BE ON A LENGTHY WINNING STREAK. UNFORTUNATELY THAT WAS NOT TO BE. AS YOU ALL KNOW, HAVING GONE THROUGH THE ORIENTATION PROGRAM THAT WAS PUT ON BY THE JURY COMMISSIONER, TRIALS IN THIS STATE ARE CONDUCTED IN VARIOUS PHASES OR STAGES. YOU FOLKS HAVE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THE JURY-SELECTION PROCESS AND ARE NOW THE TWELVE JURORS AND SIX ALTERNATES THAT HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO HEAR THIS MATTER. THE NEXT PHASE OF THE TRIAL IS ANOTHER ORIENTATION. THIS ORIENTATION, HOWEVER, IS A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC, BECAUSE IT NOW DEALS WITH SOME OF THE DOS AND DON'TS OF THIS NEW JOB THAT YOU HAVE. LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS STATE, THIS..."

This is from a fansite:

"In closing, if any of David's friends or family have the chance to see this, I wish you strength and peace, this has to be a difficult time for all of you. Just know that there are more people than you think that support David and hope only for the best outcome for him. There are also people who admire your integrity and character for standing behind the man you know, in the face of the opposition."

I know the difference.
25 posted on 12/12/2002 1:36:00 PM PST by EllaMinnow
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: Jaded
And? Do the words "IMPOSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE FOR DAVID WESTERFIELD TO HAVE DUMPED" many any thing to you? What part of that says he did it?

What part says he didn't *kill* her? Look again. It doesn't deny that Westerfield is in fact the killer.

27 posted on 12/12/2002 1:54:51 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: redlipstick
MC/RL, why do you bother coming here? Stalking? It took close to 4 hours for y'all to show up. Hey, why don't you do your own site. It would give you something ELSE to do. Sheesh

Regarding the paragraph, should I wish mad cow disease on them, perhaps the plague? Would that make you happy? GET A GRIP!

I have to find a different color next time, perhaps a nice purple.

28 posted on 12/12/2002 1:55:47 PM PST by Jaded
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To: Jaded
The Van Dams ORIGINALLY said it wasn't true.

No, the van Dams originally said it wasn't true because they had never heard about it. Big diff.

29 posted on 12/12/2002 1:55:58 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: cyncooper
whatever. thanks bye have a nice day.
30 posted on 12/12/2002 1:56:30 PM PST by Jaded
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To: redlipstick
The van Dams originally said THEY DIDN'T KNOW - not that it wasn't true.

Thanks red. I was replying as I read through the thread and hadn't read your post yet. I just said the same thing.

31 posted on 12/12/2002 1:57:19 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Jaded
So WHAT PART OF TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS constitutes a fan site?

Now, now Jaded. Post a link to your site and let others see that there is much, much more than mere transcripts.

Note, I am not posting any critcism here, just noting that you are mischaracterizing your website.

32 posted on 12/12/2002 2:09:22 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: I. Ben Hurt
I read the dogs traced Danielle to the empty house next door that was being painted

Please post your documentation for this assertion.

However, in the search warrants the one dog was noted to have acted interested in part of Westerfield's garage. It was noted that it wasn't considered a strong enough reaction to be called a hit, but the dog was interested, and the judge made note of it when ruling on the warrant.

Also, the jurors must have believed the cadaver dog.

33 posted on 12/12/2002 2:12:08 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Jaded
why do you bother coming here?

Because Free Republic is a place to discuss. Part of discussion is refutation of the absurd. Your position is absurd and not founded in fact.

I'll be here to counteract your disinformation campaign as long as you continue to post.

34 posted on 12/12/2002 2:14:47 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: cyncooper; Jaded
I just checked the FR homepage - the forum still belongs to JR.
35 posted on 12/12/2002 2:18:55 PM PST by EllaMinnow
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To: Jaded
He also criticized the media for overhyping the testimony about the van Dams' spouse-swapping and the couple's use of marijuana on the night their daughter vanished.

overhyping? The poster family for s-s, ca, and mj are taking all the hype they can get. /sarcasm


36 posted on 12/12/2002 2:24:17 PM PST by let freedom sing
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To: cyncooper
Oh, spare me you trite b/s, your highness, knower of all things.
37 posted on 12/12/2002 2:30:23 PM PST by Jaded
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Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

Comment #39 Removed by Moderator

To: cyncooper
Actually, in one of the interviews they said "you can't believe everything you see in the paper". That was one version. There are others.
40 posted on 12/12/2002 2:35:05 PM PST by Jaded
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