Posted on 02/06/2003 3:57:00 PM PST by Jaded
SAN DIEGO – The District Attorney's Office spent nearly $270,000 prosecuting David Westerfield, including thousands for DNA analysis and expert witnesses, it was announced today.
Westerfield was sentenced to die for the February 2002 killing of 7-year- old Danielle van Dam.
The former Sabre Springs resident and neighbor of the victim is now on death row at San Quentin.
According to figures the District Attorney's Office released, more than $35,000 was spent on experts for Westerfield's trial, and more than $146,000 on DNA analysis.
More than $62,000 was spent on a telephone survey and a jury questionnaire review.
Of course the police replaced the real label with one that read X-Large .....
One of the items I found of interest before Closing Arguments was how Prosecutor Jeff Dusek was going to discredit the Forensic Entomology evidence that provided Westerfield an alibi, without smearing David Faulkner, who was called in by law enforcement and given unusual access to both the crime scene and the autopsy.
What I didn't know at the time was that like a modern day Al Capone, Dusek had bought 10 jurors. He did this by paying a jury consultant to write screening questions that would identify people with a psychological profile fitting a person who was certain to be traumatized by the porn and emotionally shaken by autopsy photos. Someone who believes the burden of proof is with the defendant, who they believe would testify, if not guilty.
This allowed Dusek to lie when he stated during his Closing Argument that he didn't know enough about Forensic Entomology to ask Faulkner enough questions. He even joked about calling Faulkner back to court in order to ask him more questions. Even after hearing Dusek's plea of ignorance regarding Faulkner, the jury still ask to hear Faulkner's testimony re-read during deliberations.
FROM DUSEK'S CLOSING ARGUMENT AUG. 6, 2002
9382 - 9383
27 ...THE DEFENSE HAS RAISED AN ALIBI IN THIS CASE. I WASN'T
28 WITH HER WHEN SHE WAS KILLED, THEREFORE, THAT DOES BECOME A
1 POINT THAT WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT, THAT WE HAVE TO ESTABLISH IN
2 THIS CASE. WHEN WAS SHE KILLED?
3 AND I THINK WE START WITH THE OPENING STATEMENT,
4 PROMISES MADE OF HOW IMPORTANT OR HOW FORCEFUL THIS EVIDENCE WAS
5 GOING TO BE, HOW GOOD THIS ALIBI WAS. WHEN YOU HEARD OPENING
6 STATEMENTS, PROMISES MADE. "YOU'RE GOING TO BE CONVINCED BEYOND
7 ANY DOUBT THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE FOR DAVID
8 WESTERFIELD TO HAVE DUMPED DANIELLE VAN DAM IN THAT LOCATION.
9 THE EVIDENCE WILL SHOW BEYOND DOUBT THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR
10 HIM TO HAVE PLACED HER THERE. THEIR EVIDENCE." REFERRING TO
11 US. THAT'S HOW GOOD THE DEFENSE THOUGHT THE EVIDENCE WAS.
12 THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE OPERATING UPON.
13 DID IT MEASURE UP? HARDLY.
9383 - 9384
14 ...RELATING TO TIME OF DEATH, BASICALLY YOU WERE PRESENTED
15 WITH THREE TYPES OF WITNESSES IN THIS CASE...
23 ...START WITH THE ENTOMOLOGISTS, THE BUG GUYS...
24 ...THINK BACK TO DAVID FAULKNER,
25 THE FIRST WITNESS THE DEFENSE CALLED...
26 CALLED TO THE SCENE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT, HE'S A LOCAL GUY...
28 ...WHEN WE HEARD DAVID FAULKNER TESTIFY AND LISTENED TO
1 WHAT HE HAD TO SAY, MAN, WE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BUG
2 EVIDENCE AT THAT TIME. DID WE? CERTAINLY WE DIDN'T KNOW ENOUGH
3 TO ASK HIM A WHOLE LOT OF QUESTIONS. WE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING
4 ABOUT ENTERING THIRD STAGE, END STAGE MAGGOT WHATEVER. WE
5 DIDN'T KNOW BEGINNING. WE DIDN'T KNOW END. WE DIDN'T KNOW
6 ABOUT THIS.
7 ...WE
8 DIDN'T KNOW ALL THE PROBLEMS, ALL THE LOOP HOLES. CAN YOU
9 IMAGINE WHAT WE WOULD LEARN FROM FAULKNER NOW IF WE GO BACK AND
10 ASK HIM MORE QUESTIONS? I'M SURE WE WANT TO DO THAT, DON'T WE?
11 PERHAPS NOT...
9386
1 WE'VE ALSO LEARNED THE TERM "POSTMORTEM INTERVAL,"
2 P. M. I....
6 THE DEFENSE TRIED TO MAKE IT THE TIME OF EGGS TO
7 THE TIME OF RECOVERY AND IT'S NOT....
8 ...IT'S THE ENTIRE TIME, THE
9 POSTMORTEM INTERVAL, FROM TIME OF DEATH TO TIME OF RECOVERY. WE
10 CAN USE THE BUGS TO TRY TO HELP FILL IN SOME OF THAT BUT IT
11 DOESN'T TELL US ALL OF IT. BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THE FLIES
12 GOT ON THERE...
13 ...WERE THERE ANY FLIES AROUND? DID THEY KILL HER?...
17 WE'VE LEARNED SOME OTHER THINGS REGARDING
18 ENTOMOLOGY. THESE FLIES IN A NORMAL SITUATION, TYPICAL
19 SITUATION WILL GO TO THE NATURAL OPENINGS; EYES, EARS NOSE AND
20 THROAT. ANY NORMAL CASE THAT'S WHERE THEY GO AND SET UP HOME,
21 LAY THEIR EGGS....
9386 - 9387
26 WE'VE ALSO LEARNED FROM DR. GOFF AND DR. HALL SOME OF THE
27 MISTAKES THAT CAN BE MADE, PERHAPS EVEN COOKING THE BOOKS,
28 MAKING SURE YOU GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT....
2 ...ONE THING YOU CAN DO IS YOU DON'T MEASURE THOSE LITTLE
3 LARVAE GUYS. YOU DON'T DETERMINE IF THEY'RE BEGINNING OR END
4 STAGE OR THE END OF ANY OF THOSE STAGES. WE DON'T KNOW IF DAVID
5 FAULKNER DID THAT. WE KNOW HE COLLECTED THEM....
7 ...YOU MIGHT WONDER WHETHER OR NOT DAVID
8 FAULKNER EVEN MEASURED 'EM, AND THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE...
11 BEGINNING STAGE, THIS IS HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE, THE END STAGE,
12 THIS IS HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE, AND YOU HAVE TO KNOW THEIR SIZE
13 AND PUT 'EM ON THE SCALE.
9387 - 9388
14 WE KNOW THERE ARE WAYS TO SHRINK THIS TIME PERIOD.
1 ...USE THE WRONG TEMPERATURE GAUGE,
2 TEMPERATURE STUDIES.
3 WE'VE GOT APPARENTLY THREE PEOPLE WHO DO WORK IN
4 THIS FIELD; KAMAL, GREENBURG AND ANDERSON, AND THEY'VE EACH DONE
5 THEIR STUDIES UNDER VARYING TEMPERATURES....
10 ...WE'VE GOT DEVELOPMENTAL RATES FROM 61 DEGREES ALL THE
11 WAY UP TO LOOKS LIKE 84 DEGREES. THAT'S GOING TO MAKE A
12 DIFFERENCE. WE DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT THIS FROM FAULKNER....
9389
15 ...DAVID FAULKNER, WE JUST DON'T HAVE
16 ENOUGH INFORMATION ABOUT HIM. WE DIDN'T KNOW ENOUGH TO ASK HIM
17 QUESTIONS AT THAT TIME.
9392 - 9393
19 ...DAVID FAULKNER TOLD US THERE JUST WEREN'T AS MANY
20 FLIES OUT THERE THIS YEAR. HE HADN'T SEEN THE POPULATION THIS
21 LOW IN THE ENTIRE TIME HE'D BEEN CHASING THESE BUGS. THAT'S GOT
22 TO TELL YOU, EVEN IF THEY WON'T, THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET AS
23 MANY FLIES ON THE BODY, THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME TO START THE
24 PRODUCTION. IT HAS A BEARING. IT HAS A MEANING ...
26 THE WEATHER WAS UNUSUAL. IT WAS DRY, COOL AND HOT,
27 BOTH ENDS BUT IT WAS DRY. NO RAIN SINCE WHAT, 1950, CIVIL WAR
28 DAYS? GEE, BACK WHEN THEY WERE FINDING GOLD UP IN SUTTER'S
1 CREEK, BACK WHEN CALIFORNIA WAS BECOMING A STATE...
FROM DUSEK'S REBUTTAL ARGUMENT AUG. 7, 2002
9619
4 DAVID FAULKNER WE KNEW CERTAINLY ASKED VERY LITTLE
5 ABOUT HIS COMPUTATION. THERE WAS ARGUMENT MADE HERE ABOUT WHO
6 HAD TO GO GET MORE WITNESSES AND D. A. HAD TO DO THIS AND D. A.
7 HAD TO DO THAT.... DAVID FAULKNER
8 CERTAINLY WAS CALLED OUT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT, MADE HIS
9 COMPUTATIONS, MADE HIS NUMBERS, TESTIFIED HERE. WE HAVE VERY
10 LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW HE GOT TO HIS NUMBERS....
11 ... HE TOLD US
12 HEY, THAT'S JUST AN ESTIMATE. AND THAT'S A MINIMUM. I CAN'T
13 TELL YOU THAT'S WHEN THE BODY WAS THERE. HE SAID THAT'S WHEN THE
14 FLIES WERE THERE. HE ALSO TOLD US MAN, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE
15 IN THE HEAD. THEY WEREN'T. UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THEY
16 WEREN'T IN THE HEAD. I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE WAS COVERED. MAYBE HE
17 DIDN'T CONSIDER THE MUMMIFICATION ASPECT OF IT.
NEXT: ALIBI - PART TWO, DR. HALL AND DR. GOFF
So, it seems like the Testimony of the SDLE Dorie Savage was another LIE designed to cover up the fact that the BLACK hair in her hand and on her necklace most likely belonged to the REAL KILLER, and Prosecution didn't want that to be a question the jury had in their mind. SO, Dorie kinda lied and got away with it, didn't she!
Just like the black hair found in her hand and on her necklace (which the media and LE's allowed to be suspected as being DW's, and really didn't retract when found not true, the .22 shell, the blood in the VD house, out in the yard, on the garage foundation,since that evidence might lead to someone other than DW, it was IGNORED.
I am saying the article only contains PART of his testimony.
Going by media articles to determine Westerfield's guilt is like the JURY listening ONLY TO THE PROSECUTION's SIDE and totally ignoring the DEFENSE.
OH, WAIT A MINUTE, THAT'S WHAT THEY DID.
I am saying that Conklin's testimony is just like many of the other witnesses. He wavers on stating anything absolutely for the record.
He is brought in claiming he heard a voice in the Motorhome, and thinks it was Danielle.
His statement, when asked, is that He THINKS he REMEMBERS hearing WESTERFIELD say something, which he can't hear very well due to the sound of the ENGINE RUNNING on his truck (no muffler?)
He says he quits digging, going over to DW's side (where he is digging too), and asks him did he say something. He then says DW says SOMETHING KINDA LIKE "I didn't say anything" or "it wasn't me".
KINDA, MAYBE,SOMETHING LIKE, I THINK, all just the kind of testimony EVERYONE in the UNITED STATES should just accept as PERFECT ABSOLUTE PROOF OF GUILT.
Remember, he has been out there, had people parked right next to him, then moves later on, gets stuck, has someone come by, then this (I tow vehicles out of the sand when I'm not too drunk) tow driver helps pull him out of the sand and Prosecution tried to imply that Danielle was in the MH the whole time. That this guy might have, maybe, heard a voice over the sound of the engine, when no one else, in perfect absolute quiet of the night, etc. ever heard anything.
Do you believe he heard Danielle's voice?
From the ACTUAL WRITTEN TESTIMONY of the TRIAL.
Not from the frickin newspaper, that's for sure.
It would seem you get all your information from the newspaper, and I am telling you they were totally biased.
All those 'helpful' citizens said that they NOTICED his curtains were closed. SURE. At a campground, and you notice whose windows are closed, whose are not, and remember the exact shape,size, model of the camper and the person driving. RIGHT.
Funny thing, there were 100's of people who reported they saw DW's Motorhome the weekend Danielle disappeared. They were helpful citizens too. Problem was, the reports were in a 100 different places, all at the same time. Obviously they were 'seeing' or 'remembering' something that wasn't really there.
Now, when someone took a VIDEO of the MH, the curtains were open.
If you didn't show the witnesses a picture of the Motorhome (like they did in court) , the witnesses who say they saw the curtains closed, and asked them what model it was, what color, without help from DUSEK, or someone else, they wouldn't be able to tell you.
Is is possible Westerfield had his curtains closed. CERTAINLY. Most likely when parked. If you have to handle a motorhome by yourself, you don't always do things like OPEN ALL THE DAMN CURTAINS, especially if you are TIRED, UPSET, SWEATY, etc.
The whole line of testimony about the CURTAINS being not open, the 'VOICE' they tow truck driver thinks he maybe possibly, but doesn't remember for sure ,heard..were all part of the Prosecution's efforts to sway the jury with innuendo.
Again, you list newspaper articles, and only the ones biased against DW as proof or support for your belief in his guilt.
Unless you listen to, or read, all the testimony, how can you come up with a proper determination?
"Everybody we know that drives a motor home leaves it open so you have a better view of changing lanes," she said.
Joyce would certainly have found Mr. & me curious. We never opened the side window curtains in our back bedroom except when I was cleaning. The rear window drapes were opened when traveling so I could check the car in-tow,etc.
The driver of a MH uses side-view mirrors for passing, changing lanes,whatever. All other windows are not needed as far as the driver is concerned. 1,068 posted on 07/08/2003 9:53 AM CDT by cinFLA
Missing children found at mother's house
VISTA ---- Two children were found safe at their mother's home Sunday night after sheriff's deputies launched a massive search of a local park, authorities said.
The 7-year-old boy and his 5-year-old sister had been reported missing by their father, 30-year-old Ted Small, shortly before 7 p.m. at Buena Vista Park, sheriff's spokesman Chris Saunders said.
Deputies and 50 volunteers from the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team scoured the area but found nothing. After further investigation, deputies learned that Small and his wife were separated, Saunders said. The investigation eventually led deputies to the wife's home.
Small was booked at the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of being drunk at the time of his children's disappearance and on misdemeanor child endangerment charges because of his condition while caring for his 6-month-old son.
This is how "most" unsuitable parents are treated, why did the VD's get a "pass". They were both stoned and drunk...
I remember reading about the dogs leading them to the house next door. The vacant one that was being PAINTED and redecorated. Don't remember that in testimony, just a story that was talked about at the time. Anyone remember more of those details?
Where did you find this?
an El Cajon woman camping a few spaces away, said she was curious about why all the curtains except those covering the front windshield were pulled shut.
"Everybody we know that drives a motor home leaves it open so you have a better view of changing lanes,
Now, she was camped (PARKED) a few spaces away from DW. SHE WAS PARKED, HE WAS PARKED, yet she gives testimony about what you do WHILE DRIVING. The JURY and PUBLIC (based on the conviction and many people's attitudes to this day) bought it. HOOK, LINE, and SINKER.
Witnesses testified DW parked AWAY from everyone else, because he had Danielle in the back raping her.(at least that is the implication of their testimony).
YET, here we have ANOTHER WITNESS actually stating they were within a FEW PARKING SPACES of him.
You still have not provided a source for this claim.
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