The judge in the David Westerfield trial rejected another defense request to sequester the jury but said he still considers it "a possible option." Posted on 07/30/2002 7:13:26 AM PDT by FresnoDA
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 30, 2002
The judge in the David Westerfield trial rejected another defense request to sequester the jury but said he still considers it "a possible option."
Superior Court Judge William Mudd said he didn't think it was necessary at the moment but has asked the county to prepare "a back-up contingency plan" just in case.
Westerfield's lawyers have asked several times for jury sequestration, and they renewed their request yesterday. Lead defense lawyer Steven Feldman said he worried that the jury might be affected by the publicity in the Samantha Runnion kidnap-murder case in Orange County.
Feldman cited comments made by Samantha's mother about Alejandro Avila, the man charged with kidnapping and killing the 5-year-old girl. In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Erin Runnion blamed her daughter's death on a jury that acquitted Avila of child molestation charges two years ago.
Feldman said he worried that jurors in the Westerfield case might hear about the interview and feel pressured to convict his client, who is charged with kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of Sabre Springs.
The judge said he would remind jurors about news coverage they should avoid. He also said he talked to them about sequestration last week after receiving reports that someone in the media followed some of the jurors to their cars and wrote down their license plates.
"They're a hearty group and they didn't appear to be intimidated by what occurred, and I continue to believe in their integrity," the judge said yesterday.
With the trial in recess for a day, lawyers spent yesterday discussing legal instructions to give to the jury before they begin deliberations. It seems likely that testimony will continue into next week.
Prosecutors are expected to finish their rebuttal evidence today, at which point the defense will put on evidence to rebut the prosecution's rebuttal. One possible defense witness probably won't be called until Monday, Feldman told the judge yesterday.
My feed went dead. Wish I could. From what I did hear of Goff's testimony, and the ,uh, math errors, I would think it would have to be thrown out.
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Westerfield's attorneys have argued that their client could not have placed Danielle's body in rural East County, because he was under close surveillance by police beginning Feb. 5. The second-grader was reported missing from her Sabre Springs home on Feb. 2. Volunteer searchers discovered her body on Feb. 27.
Goff testified that he calculated when insects first infested the body using data provided by prosecutors and temperature data from two areas near the body site. His calculations showed that the body first became available to insects sometime between Feb. 2 and Feb. 12.
Goff explained that his field, forensic entomology, estimates how long insects have been feeding on a body, not a time of death. He said cold nighttime temperatures could slow the development of the flies on a body. He said that ants could have the same effect by removing fly eggs from the cadaver.
Last week, Haskell testified for the defense that insects could not have laid eggs on the body before Feb. 12. Goff disputed that analysis and said Haskell made a mistake in the way he used the temperature of a mass of blow fly maggots found in the body.
"By doing this, he comes up with a shorter timeline," Goff said.
Before testimony began Tuesday, Judge William Mudd told jurors that they would probably begin deliberations sometime next week. Mudd said prosecutors would call their final rebuttal witnesses Thursday or Monday. Because some witnesses aren't available, there will be no testimony Wednesday, he said.
"It appears to me that next week you'll hear closing arguments and be in deliberations," Mudd told jurors.
The judge also warned jurors that he might sequester them during deliberations. Monday he told county officials to come up with a plan in case that becomes necessary.
Several jurors told the judge they are worried about the effect on their families if they were to be sequestered in a hotel during deliberations. Mudd said he was taking those concerns into account and doesn't currently plan to sequester them.
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