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Prosecution spent $270,000 on Westerfield case
San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 2/6/03 | San Diego Union Tribune

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.


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: 180frank; addictedlosers; addiction; dozeoff; dusek; plantedevidence; vandam; westerfield
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To: Jaded
So, Westerfield did park his Motorhome in the neighborhood, where Danielle could have had access to the inside, and Westerfield stopping/dropping off Danielle,turning the RV around on that dirt path, are not very likely to have happened.

We pretty much, 'knew' this. Is it enough to convince an appeal committee?

1,201 posted on 08/26/2003 2:36:15 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: UCANSEE2
You are correct, sir.
1,202 posted on 08/26/2003 4:21:13 PM PDT by Jaded (But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Mat. 5:44)
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To: Jaded
Gee, read this post. Put the setting in Cali, instead of Texas........

Child murderer/rapist

1,203 posted on 08/27/2003 12:05:15 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: Jaded
http://www.local6.com/news/2465038/detail.html
1,204 posted on 09/09/2003 10:06:13 AM PDT by demsux
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To: demsux; Jaded; BARLF
VERY Interesting. Detectives are viewing the tapes. If one of the victims turned out to be Danielle, think they'd be quick to get in touch with DW's lawyer? We can only hope.
1,205 posted on 09/10/2003 2:13:24 PM PDT by I. Ben Hurt
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To: I. Ben Hurt
Hello my friend,good to see you.
1,206 posted on 09/10/2003 2:31:01 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: BARLF; Jaded; Rheo; demsux; CW_Conservative; I. Ben Hurt
Here is some related and very interesting information. Notice how the same people involved in this case, have a different attitude about certain 'evidence' in the Peterson case. Wonder why?

GPS use on Peterson in question

By JOHN COTÉ

BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: September 5, 2003, 05:05:13 AM PDT

The use of electronic devices by investigators to track Scott Peterson's movements was an unorthodox move, observers said Thursday.

Prosecutors intend to introduce evidence from a global positioning system tracking device, Senior Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso said at a hearing this week. Defense attorney Mark Geragos countered that he would seek to have the evidence excluded, indicating that there were problems with the GPS equipment.

The issue is likely to be hashed out at an Oct. 20 hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to put Peterson on trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son, Conner.

Authorities used "wiretaps on phones, tracking vehicles, all of the technology available" as they probed Peterson's death, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said at a news conference April 18 the day that her husband was arrested in La Jolla.

Peterson, 30, could receive the death penalty if convicted of both murder counts.

His wife was almost eight months pregnant when she was reported missing Christmas Eve. Her body and that of her son were found in mid-April along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, several miles from where her husband said he went fishing Dec. 24.

During a four-month probe, investigators employed a range of tactics, including "hypnosis techniques" on a witness. Police also attached a tracking device to Peterson's pickup, Lockyer said at the April news conference. Such tracking equipment usually is employed by state and federal law enforcement in major drug cases, according to experts.

"The fact that they used one in this case shows law enforcement were being very resourceful," said James Hammer, San Francisco assistant district attorney. "They were doing things that are not particularly done in a homicide case."

Most police and sheriff's departments do not have the budgets for tracking equipment, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Sharon Chow said.

"That's out of our league," Chow said. "Tracking devices for vehicles are very expensive."

During the 20-minute hearing in Stanislaus County Superior Court, prosecutors, who have been tight-lipped about their case, referred to "mitochondrial DNA" they plan to introduce at the hearing. They did not specify what the genetic material was, but mitochondrial testing, a less exact method than traditional nuclear DNA testing, is often used on old, degraded or extremely small samples of hair, fingernails or bone. It is rarely used for blood evidence.

The defense also may attack the DNA results. Mitochondrial DNA testing is routinely used in court cases and was used to identify the remains of Sept. 11 victims. According to San Diego prosecutor Woody Clark, who specializes in DNA evidence and worked on the prosecutions of O.J. Simpson and David Westerfield, nuclear testing reveals genetic profiles that occur only one in a "quadrillion" people while mitochondrial results are often described to juries as occurring once or perhaps twice in a scientific data bank of 5,000 people.

Gee, seems I remember they said the Mit-DNA was one in qaudrillion, during the Westerfield trial.

1,207 posted on 09/11/2003 12:22:43 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: UCANSEE2
Ah, yes. It is amazing, the differences.
1,208 posted on 09/11/2003 2:18:21 PM PDT by Jaded (But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Mat. 5:44)
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To: Jaded
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/987932/posts

Interesting thread about hedonism...the very thing that Barbara and Brenda spoke about.

Of particular interest is the part where they talk about "familial relationships".

1,209 posted on 09/23/2003 8:39:17 PM PDT by demsux
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To: Jaded
What’s true about murder goes double for human sexuality and familial relationships. If there is no God, soul, or afterlife, all that’s left, as Wiker’s subtitle tells us, is hedonism. In a world that is amoral, how we should live becomes a matter of "continually balancing bodily pleasures and pains." Morality and the distinction between good and evil are purely human creations with no intrinsic authority.
1,210 posted on 09/23/2003 8:41:15 PM PDT by demsux
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To: CW_Conservative

Dusek's Fable


Fable n. A foolish or improbable story, especially one told to deceive. A fabrication.



On Sept. 4, 2002, Dusek finally got to make the argument he had been waiting 8 months for. He was going to ask for DW to receive the Death Penalty.
What the jury heard was a kinder, gentler Dusek, seeing as that he had already secured a conviction and the jury was sure to give the DP to a child killer.
What was left exposed to those watching, without the cover of his usual sadistic meanness, was the pure unadulterated stupidity and social ineptness of this low class thug.




PENALTY PHASE


FROM DUSEK'S PENALTY PHASE ARGUMENT SEPT. 4, 2002


10509 - 10510

26 ...SUSAN L. AND HER

27 DAUGHTER, CHRISTINA GONZALES. WE HEARD FROM THEM I THINK

28 YESTERDAY. OBVIOUSLY STILL HAD FEELINGS FOR THE DEFENDANT. AND

1 HE HAD OPENED UP THEIR HOME -- HIS HOME TO CHRISTINA GONZALES

2 AND LET HER MOVE IN THERE FOR A FEW MONTHS. BUT AGAIN, HOW MUCH

3 IS THAT WORTH?

10 WE HEARD FROM CHRISTINA GONZALES, THAT SHE DID NOT

11 STAY IN THAT HOME AFTER HER MOTHER LEFT. SHE GOT OUT, TOO. SHE

12 LEFT. IF HE'S SUCH A BIG HEARTED GUY, WHY LEAVE? IN FACT, IF

13 HE'S SUCH A SAINT, WHY SHOULD SHE LEAVE? WHY SHOULD SHE TURN

14 HER BACK ON HIM, ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS IT SOUNDED LIKE...

Dusek is so determined to counter ANY argument sparing DW's life that he is more than willing to make a complete ass out of himself. If a girls mother moved out of her boyfriend's home, what do you think people would say if the daughter stayed behind? What would the mother say?
According to Dusek, the daughter is turning her back on DW, for showing common sense, which is something completely alien to the social awkward DA.


10510 - 10511

19 WE COME TO THE LAST CATEGORY -- WELL, SECOND TO THE

20 LAST CATEGORY, AND THAT IS WHERE HE LEFT HIS FOOTPRINTS ON

21 SOCIETY, WHERE HE INVENTED DEVICES THAT IMPROVED THE LOT OF

22 MANKIND AND WOMANKIND, THAT HE WAS AN INVENTOR THAT IMPROVED

23 EVERYONE'S LIFE. WHAT HE GETS CREDIT FOR AND CERTAINLY HE DOES

24 GET CREDIT IS THAT HE HAD A JOB. HE WORKED. HE STAYED EMPLOYED

25 AND HE WAS APPARENTLY A GOOD EMPLOYEE, SOMEONE THAT OTHER PEOPLE

26 WOULD TAKE TO THEIR NEW COMPANY. HE GETS CREDIT FOR THAT. BUT

27 THAT IS REALLY WHAT EVERYONE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, ISN'T IT,

28 BEFORE WE GO OVERBOARD?...

3 BEFORE WE PUT HIM IN THE CATEGORY OF JONAS SALK AND

4 ANY ONE OF SIMILAR TYPES, UNDERSTAND WHAT HIS RESPONSIBILITY

5 WAS. HE HAD A JOB. HE WAS GIVEN AN ASSIGNMENT. THE ASSIGNMENT

6 WAS TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT AND HE DID IT. AND APPARENTLY HE

7 DID HIS PART WELL. HE DID NOT SEEK OUT THE HUMANITARIAN

8 PROJECTS. THEY CAME HIS WAY. HE WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD

9 HAVE DONE THEM. OTHERS COULD HAVE. OTHERS DID.

10 PERHAPS IT'S SIMILAR TO SOMEBODY WHO WORKS IN AN

11 AUTOMOTIVE FACTORY. YOU WORK ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE ASSEMBLING

12 CARS. ONE LINE OVER THERE IS ASSEMBLING STATION WAGONS. THE

13 OTHER LINE IS ASSEMBLING AMBULANCES. THEY'RE BOTH DOING THE

14 SAME WORK, AREN'T THEY? ONE JUST HAPPENS TO BE MAKING CARS, THE

15 OTHER ONE'S MAKING AMBULANCES. DO THE PEOPLE DOING THE

16 AMBULANCE, DO THEY GET ANY MORE CREDIT? I DON'T THINK SO.

17 THEY'RE DOING THEIR JOB. AND HE GETS CREDIT FOR DOING HIS JOB

18 AND DOING IT WELL APPARENTLY. BUT A HUMANITARIAN? FAR SHORT,

19 FAR SHORT OF THAT.

Remember, Dusek is speaking to a jury of nitwits and must choose his analogies accordingly, I think. I know of no other way to explain how he could compare an inventor to some shlub who works on an assembly line. I don't care what he builds.
I wonder if Dusek actually allowed anyone besides a three-yr old to read this argument beforehand. You can really see Dusek's pre-DA employment history as a Class A pitching failure. He was forced to give up because there was no lower level he could sink to. So he became a DA where there is a judge, instead of an ump, who is always there for a friendly called third strike when Dusek throws yet another one in the dirt.


10513 - 10514

23 THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WHEN I SIT DOWN YOU WILL BE

24 ASKED TO SHOW MERCY FOR HIM, SYMPATHY FOR HIM, COMPASSION FOR

25 HIM. WHAT MERCY, COMPASSION, SYMPATHY DID HE SHOW ANYBODY. AND

26 HE HAD A CHANCE. HE HAD A CHANCE AS THAT WEEKEND PROGRESSED.

27 HE SHOWED HER ABSOLUTELY NO COMPASSION, NO MERCY, NO PITY. NONE

28 TO HER FAMILY, NONE TO ANYONE. HE HAD A CHANCE WHEN HE STOOD IN

1 FRONT OF THE TV CAMERAS AND GAVE THE INTERVIEW TO SHOW

2 COMPASSION, TO SHOW REMORSE. HE SHOWED ARROGANCE, CROOKEDNESS,

3 LIES. HE HAD A CHANCE WHEN HE SPOKE WITH PAUL REDDEN. YOU

4 COULD HEAR THE TONE OF HIS VOICE: I AM SMARTER THAN YOU. I CAN

5 BEAT YOU. I CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME. HE

6 HAD A CHANCE TO SHOW COMPASSION AND MERCY AND SHOW SOME REMORSE

7 BUT HE SHOWED NONE. AND HE HAD TIME FROM FEBRUARY 2ND UNTIL HE

8 WAS ARRESTED, FEBRUARY 22ND. KNOCK ON THE VAN DAM'S DOOR. I'M

9 SORRY FOR WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH. CAN I BRING YOU A COOKIE,

10 CAN I BRING YOU A LUNCH, I'M SORRY FOR YOUR PAIN. DIDN'T EVEN

11 HAVE TO SAY HE DID IT. HE DIDN'T....

Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie? Can I Bring You A Cookie?
Saving his most moronic utterance for last, Dusek does not disappoint with the his "Can I bring you a cookie" comment. Can you imagine if DW had actually done as Dusek suggested? In full view of the media DW goes over and says "Hi, Van Dams, just thought I stop by and say howdy. Oh, by the way, here is a cookie".

1,211 posted on 09/24/2003 7:31:57 PM PDT by CW_Conservative
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To: CW_Conservative
posted!! Thanks again.
1,212 posted on 09/25/2003 8:15:30 AM PDT by Jaded (But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Mat. 5:44)
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To: Jaded
Hey Jaded,

Why hasn't anyone written a book yet? Especially the VD's? Or Barbara Easton? Or Keith Stone? Or Denise Kemal? Or Rich Brady?

EVERY other case of this sort has had books written about it...why not this one?

I'm thinking DW ought to write one, heck the proceeds would be passed on to the VD kids...I'm all for that.

1,213 posted on 09/27/2003 12:09:51 AM PDT by demsux
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To: demsux; Jaded; BARLF
Here, a link to the bust in Europe, that started with the bust in the US.

One wonders, if Damon had made such films with Danielle, then was blackmailed by a member of the group of 'watchers'?

That this 'watcher' is the one that called the VD's?

That Damon couldn't lead police to the real kidnapper/killer as it would lead to exposure of his crimes as well?

Big childporn ring bust in Europe"

1,214 posted on 09/29/2003 1:57:06 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (y)
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To: UCANSEE2
I just finished reading that story here on FR.

Thanks UCAN

1,215 posted on 09/29/2003 2:29:02 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: BARLF
mark
1,216 posted on 10/09/2003 7:37:33 AM PDT by Jaded (nothing but trickery abounds nowadays)
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To: UCANSEE2; Mrs.Liberty; demsux; MizSterious; skipjackcity; RnMomof7; spectre; BARLF; mommya; ...
P-P-P-Ping

Deputy DA appointed to seat on bench

By Kristen Green
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 4, 2003

A national DNA expert who helped prosecute the O.J. Simpson and David Westerfield cases has been appointed a San Diego County Superior Court judge.

Deputy District Attorney George "Woody" Clarke, 52, was named to the bench yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis.

"I think the governor has made a good choice," said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. "It's our loss, but a great addition to the bench."

William S. Dato, 48, a partner with the firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, was also made a judge. He specializes in civil litigation.

Both Dato and Clarke were appointed to fill vacancies on the bench.

Clarke's work on a death-penalty case in the 1980s led him toward specializing in DNA.

Though DNA analysis had yet to be developed, Clarke used another scientific technique – blood group evidence – during his co-prosecution of David Allen Lucas. The Spring Valley carpet cleaner murdered three people between 1979 and 1984 and was sentenced to death.

By the time the trial ended, DNA was emerging as a form of evidence.

Clarke became an early proponent of the field, grasping DNA's power as a forensic tool at a time when the technique's legitimacy was being tested in criminal courts. The FBI later called on Clarke to lecture at its academy in Quantico, Va.

During his 21 years in the county District Attorney's Office, Clarke has risen to the top of his field. He is regularly called upon by prosecutors nationwide to assist in DNA cases.

"On these kinds of cases, there's no one that's as knowledgeable as him," said San Diego defense attorney Bob Grimes.

In 1995, Clarke was asked to join the Simpson prosecution team. He has said the criminal trial helped advance public awareness of DNA evidence.

Last year, he served as co-prosecutor in the Westerfield trial. He helped secure a conviction of Danielle van Dam's killer by utilizing a variety of DNA evidence, including fingerprints, hair and fibers.

Clarke serves as coordinator of the San Diego DNA Project, which reviews the cases of defendants convicted and imprisoned. He also coordinated a county program that investigated unsolved sexual assault cases using DNA.

His appointment to the bench is a great loss for the District Attorney's Office and for prosecutors who need assistance on DNA cases, colleagues said.

In recent years he has been training others in the DNA field, but it will take years for someone to get fully up to speed, said former county District Attorney Paul Pfingst.

"You just don't replace a hall of famer," he said.

Clarke has assisted in drafting state and federal legislation and in training attorneys, police officers, scientists and legislators on the use of DNA evidence.

He has testified before both houses of the state Legislature, as well as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Colleagues said Clarke will do a fine job on the bench. Becoming a judge is something he has been talking about for years.

"It's just another way to serve the community," Clarke said last night.

Grimes said Clarke will be well-received by the defense bar because he will be able to listen to cases with an open mind.

"He's someone who's going to have a real balanced view of the system," Grimes said.

Clarke was named 2003 Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year by the California District Attorneys Association and 2003 Prosecutor of the Year by the San Diego Deputy District Attorneys Association.

He fills a vacancy left by the resignation of Judge Dana Sabraw. Dato will fill the spot left by Judge Joan Irion's promotion to the state Court of Appeal. Both will earn $139,784. Dato is an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law and at the California Western School of Law. He was involved in a case where the state appellate court in 2002 threw out an $88.5 million award to the attorneys. The award would have been split by several law firms, including Dato's, for their role in helping secure smog-fee refunds for motorists.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another one BITES the dust. Hope y’all are doing well.

1,217 posted on 10/13/2003 2:33:27 PM PDT by Jaded (nothing but trickery abounds nowadays)
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To: Jaded
It's just another way to serve the community," Clarke said last night. gag Thanks for the ping
1,218 posted on 10/13/2003 3:06:11 PM PDT by Jrabbit
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To: Jaded
"It's just another way to serve the community," Clarke said last night.

Grimes said Clarke will be well-received by the defense bar because he will be able to listen to cases with an open mind.

"He's someone who's going to have a real balanced view of the system," Grimes said.

"Balance." That's what I'm talkin' about. I like my balance, now.

Balance.

Pro, con. To, fro. Balance.

Because you gotta keep it even to be fair, right?

Back, forth. Up, down. Balance.

Hear me say something about serving the community. That's what I wanna do, serve the community. Balance.

Open mind.

1,219 posted on 10/13/2003 4:29:44 PM PDT by Yeti
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To: Jaded; All
Thanks for the ping!

I've got a copy of Bill O'Reilly's new book in front of me (gift to my husband...yuk)

Anyway..on pages 161 thru 165 he writes about the Westerfield "confession", LOL.

Ya'll read thru it at the bookstore, it won't take long.

"Little Danille was brutally raped and murdered and buried in a desert." (Buried?) pg 161 first paragraph.

Most of what he says, we could pick apart, bit by bit...but he swears "that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God"..

Oh, and BTW, he does say he lost his complaint against Feldman. The one he foamed at the mouth over...where Feldman and Westerfield were just about ready to reveal where the body was, BUT someone found it, and they said "no deal". (O'Reilly doesn't touch or question the idiocy behind not letting Westerfield just "confess" thus sparing the State the trial).

He opines the California Bar didn't agree with his official charges against Feldman. Suprised?

Bill will forever believe the California Bar covered up for Westerfield's lawyers.

"The club almost always sticks together". says Bill O'Reilly.

That's my 2 cents today. Really, people. It's worth a read to see how he "spins it"..Regards, sw

1,220 posted on 10/13/2003 6:14:31 PM PDT by spectre (SW)
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