Van Dam Case Witness Challenges Findings Of Defense 'Bug Expert': But...His Testimony Don't Add Up..

Union Tribune ^ | July 31, 2002 | Jeff Dillion

[cyncooper]

The revelation that it is not a carpet fiber.

Did you not say you suspected Damon's van carpet was the fiber source?

[cyncooper]

If DW had something that matched the fibers....don't you think that the DA could have confirmed this thru his son who lived at the house 50% of the time OR....maybe the X-Girlfriend who lived in the house up until when???

There is no way you can allow testimony based on speculation like that to establish the *source* for a fiber.

Even if the witness told the prosecution of such a blanket, defense would be able to suppress it from the jury because it would be pure speculation.

For your scenario the item would be alleged to have been in DW's house or possession at one point and now is no longer there. What kind of evidence is that? For all we know, they did tell police and/or prosecution of such item(s). No way would a judge allow them to testify to a jury about it, though.

[Jaded]

The same reason there is no dog hair. Really neat perp and a better vacuum cleaner than Damon's.

[Spunky]

There is no way you can allow testimony based on speculation like that to establish the *source* for a fiber.

But wasn't Feldman speculating that the orange fibers may have been from the shirts worn by the people in the pictures?

[dread78645]

Ya know the thing that girl scouts were around their neck/shoulders for their badges??? Isn't that an orange velvet or something??

The award sash is brown for the Brownies, green for the Girl Scouts, and burnt orange for Senior GS.
Danielle was a Brownie.

But no matter, IIRC Danielle wasn't in uniform on the day they visited DW.

[Jaded]

There was a piece on the other night about Cary Stayner and the Yosemite murders. Because one of the victim's wallets was planted in Modesto, CA, the local police went after known criminals. One of the men was arrested on something irrelevant and held because he had a fiber that was similar to a fiber from the last known place the victims were. That particular felon was in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM involved with the victims or Cary Stayner. Yeah, fibers count.

Similar means every thing. Wonder why it was wrapped around her necklace but not wrapped around anything of his? IMO, to have been that tangled in her neclace it wasn't new. Duh.

[Jaded]

Then why'd he keep the jacket, clothes and comforters? Sentimental value? How stupid is that.

[dread78645]

Feldman won, IMHO, when he caught the fuzzy Math errors, and said "Whoops"!

2 + 2 = 4

"Hey, It's a haole thing, you wouldn't understand."

[Jaded]

Not to be terribly rude or any thing but....

I 2 KEPT ASKING THEM TO GET OFF THE ROCKS BECAUSE I 3 DIDN'T WANT THEM TO SPREAD THEM OUT AND FOR THE 4 NEIGHBOR TO HAVE TO CLEAN THEM UP.

When my child did something like that I would make her clean it up and apologize to whoever owned the property she damaged or what ever. Hmmm, maybe it's just me. Lends a tad of credibility to David's statement that they were all over the place....

[Jaded]

Not to worry, he has all those books and speaking engagements. Sound like someone else we got rid of?

[cyncooper]

Prosecution has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt". Defense was given latitude, imo, in this case regarding the picture boards (and it backfired). The judge could have not let them present it, I would think, based on the speculative nature but permitted it.

[cyncooper]

If DW had something that matched the fibers....

I've been thinking about my first reply which said "no way" could Dusek bring in this type of testimony. I'd like to modify that he maybe could, but I don't see how he could ever represent to a jury the missing item was for sure the source.

It's a good question, but clearly something left those fibers (both orange and blue) on and near Danielle, and in DW's environment.

[connectthedots]

Helping O.J. find the real killer?

[pinz-n-needlez]

Maybe it will be a new vocational plan sweeping the country. make an ass of yourself in public, then travel around and get paid to repeat the spectacle! lol

Pretty repulsive to see what lengths he was willing to go to, in order to help the state put a man to death based on wishful thinking rather than real evidence.

Where are Barb and Bill? Think they're working on any book deals? Or are they in jeopardy for the rest of their lives? No statute of limitation on murder cases, right?

[alexandria]

SO ONE ORANGE FIBER STUCK IN HER NECKLACE COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR A LONG, LONG, TIME

I belive the fiber expert DID testify to the fact that the orange fiber around DVD neck was VERY dirty. So much so that she had to scrub the fiber to rid it of dirt so she could compare. This tells me it was there for awhile.

[alexandria]

That particular felon was in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM involved with the victims or Cary Stayner. Yeah, fibers count.

Funny thing about that fiber. Turns out it's source was a common hotel type blanket or bedspread. Unlucky guy had at one time used a hotel type blanket in his jeep. Ironic part, Stayner himself (handyman at motel when murders happened) gave the FBI a bedspread, FROM A ROOM other than the one the murders happened in.

[abnegation]

I don't know how clean any "fiber" or anything else would be after laying in the desert on a decomposing body for that long.

[Freedom2specul8]

Shezza, that's a great question. I think they led us to believe it was an "exact" count. If it were more, they hurt their own case by not telling us.

[Freedom2specul8]

I object to your motion, and would like to enter into the record that indeed Markers are more legible than your mickey mouse eraser.

[Freedom2specul8]

http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/073002_ctv.html

On cross-examination, defense lawyer Steven Feldman grilled him about the way he calculated the day-to-day temperatures which dictate how fast an insect grows. Goff explained the process, but then Feldman handed him a pocket calculator and asked him to review his findings. With the courtroom completely silent, Goff added rows of figures and discovered his errors. Feldman asked him if the mistakes effected the accuracy of his estimates and Goff said they did. Several jurors picked up their notebooks and began writing rapidly.

A few minutes later, under questioning by Dusek, Goff said the slip ups made little difference in the ultimate conclusions. And as he had earlier in his testimony, he emphasized to jurors that his was an extremely narrow study of bugs, not a "stopwatch" for determining time of death.

"We're establishing a minimum period of time the insects have been feeding on the body," said Goff.

"Are you establishing a time of death?" asked prosecutor Jeff Dusek. "No, that's outside our area of expertise," said Goff.