Prosecution witness challenges findings of defense 'bug expert'
Posted on 07/30/2002 3:58:51 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Prosecution witness challenges findings of defense 'bug expert'
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July 30, 2002
M. Lee Goff, an entomologist and chairman of the Forensic Sciences Department of Chaminade University in Honolulu, said his review of the crime scene photos, morgue photos, weather reports and other evidence suggest that Danielle's body was exposed to insects as early as Feb. 1 and no later than Feb. 14.
"We're working on an estimate. We're not running a stopwatch here," Goff said. The defense has contended that there was no way Westerfield could have placed the victim's body where it was found in the East County community of Dehesa, because he was under close surveillance by police beginning Feb. 5. Goff was called to the stand to rebut testimony from two forensic entomologists called by the defense who testified that Danielle's body could not have been exposed to insects any earlier than mid-February, nearly two weeks after Westerfield came under police surveillance. Westerfield could face the death penalty if convicted of the kidnap and murder of Danielle. He also has been charged with possession of child pornography. Danielle was reported missing from her family's Sabre Springs home on Feb. 2. Her body was found in a wooded area near El Cajon on Feb. 27 after a massive search drew national attention. Westerfield, who lived two doors down from the van Dams, became an early suspect in her disappearance.
Insect evidenceWhen Danielle's naked body was found, investigators took extensive photos of it and its surroundings, then put bags over her head, feet and hands and wrapped the body in a sheet to preserve any evidence.Law enforcement officials called in forensic entomologist David Faulker to study the signs of insect infestation on the body to try to gauge when Danielle had died. But lead defense attorney Steven Feldman argued in his opening statement that scientific evidence would prove his client could not have killed Danielle. As it turned out, the prosecution never called Faulker to the stand and he was called by Feldman as a defense witness. Early in the trial, San Diego County Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne testified that the girl could have been dead from 10 days to six weeks when her body was found. Faulkner testified July 10 that his analysis of the life cycles of the insects found on Danielle's body showed it wasn't available to insects until sometime between Feb. 16 and 18. On July 22, a second defense expert, Dr. Neal Haskell, testified that Danielle's body couldn't have been exposed to flies any earlier than Feb. 12.
Insect rebuttalProsecutors began rebutting the defense insect evidence on Thursday by calling Dr. William C. Rodriguez III, a forensic anthropologist for the Department of Defense, who testified that Danielle's body was in "an advanced state of mummification" that would have delayed insect infestation.On Tuesday, Goff reiterated testimony about insect lifecycles presented by the previous experts: You can calculate how long a body has been exposed to the elements by gauging the age of the maggots – fly larvae – growing on the body. Flies are quickly drawn to dead bodies and will lay batches of eggs on them. The development of the eggs into different stages of larvae and adult flies is then affected by temperature, humidity and other environmental factors. Using charts of known development rates, a forensic entomologist can look at the age of maggots found on a body and, factoring in the weather, can calculate when the eggs they hatched from had been laid. Generally, the warmer the weather, the faster the insects develop. Goff, author of "A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insects Help Solve Crimes," said he calculated the "post-mortem interval" date from the maggots on Danielle's body using temperature records and charts from a 2000 fly study. He said Faulkner appeared to have made his calculations using a chart of insect development from a study that used 80-degree temperatures, far higher than the rates in the San Diego mountains in February. Haskell appeared to have calculated his dates assuming that the activity of the "maggot mass" on the body would have raised the temperature of the mass, speeding up their development. In both cases, Goff said, the other entomologists estimated that the maggots would have developed much faster than he did, giving a much later date for the exposure of Danielle's body to the elements. Goff was scheduled to resume testifying – and to face cross-examination by the defense – after a lunch break.
Fiber evidence
A series of shirts and other orange-colored items brought to the San Diego Police Department crime lab were made from either nylon, cotton or a polyester-cotton blend, criminalist Tanya DuLaney testified. "Did the fabric of any of these items consist of acrylic in any manner?" assistant prosecutor Woody Clarke asked. "No," DuLaney replied. Prosecutors called DuLaney back to the stand in response to defense suggestions that investigators could have inadvertently cross-contaminated the two crime scenes with the orange acrylic fibers, which became a key piece of prosecutor evidence linking Westerfield with Danielle's body. On June 25, police criminalist Jennifer Shen testified that an orange acrylic fiber tangled in Danielle's plastic necklace at the time her body was found was similar to orange acrylic fibers found in laundry inside Westerfield's home and on bedding in his bedroom. On July 24, lead defense attorney Steven Feldman introduced into evidence several still images from television that showed police investigators wearing orange or orangish shirts as they entered and left Westerfield's house on Feb. 4 or 5. In response, the district attorney's office identified all of the police and search-and-rescue personnel shown in the photos, collected anything orange-colored they were wearing at the time and gave the clothing to the crime lab. That evidence consister of two orange long-sleeved shirts, an orange short-sleeved shirt, four reddish polo shirts, an orange rope, an orange strap, a black-and-red backpack, an orange hat and an orange dog vest, DuLaney said. Under microscopic and infrared examination, none of the fibers taken from those items contained any acrylic material, DuLaney said.
Trial's end in sightAt the start of today's session, Superior Court Judge William Mudd told jurors that there will be no testimony on Wednesday, but that testimony will resume Thursday and could conclude on Monday."It appears to me that next week you'll hear closing arguments and be in deliberations," Mudd said. The judge said that he had not yet decided whether to sequester the jurors during deliberations. Mudd also warned jurors not to read or view any material about the Westerfield case or the Orange County kidnap-murder of Samantha Runnion, in which the girl's mother blamed a previous jury for failing to convict her daughter's accused murdered in a previous sexual abuse case. "The fact is the case is not similar in any way, shape or form," Mudd said. |
So, what did it come from? Fibers don't appear out of thin air, do they ?
What day did Danielle and Dylen and Brenda go to DW's to sell cookies?
When did Danielle take a bath?
Only Westerfield knows for sure and he's not saying. But look for Dusek to argue that DW destroyed the source. From yesterday's hearing:
MR. DUSEK: 2.06 WOULD BE THE HIDING, DISPOSAL, GETTING RID OF, TRYING TO GET RID OF, THE BLOOD EVIDENCE ON THE JACKET, TAKING IT TO THE DRYCLEANER'S, TRYING TO CLEAN THAT UP. TAKING THE COMFORTER TO THE DRYCLEANER'S WHEN IT STILL HAD DOG HAIRS ON IT. THE MISSING COWBOY BOOTS THAT HE APPARENTLY WAS WEARING THAT NIGHT. THEY HAVE BEEN LOST, DESTROYED, CONCEALED. THE VICTIM'S PAJAMAS HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND. THEY HAVE BEEN LOST, DESTROYED, CONCEALED. AND ALSO THE MATERIAL THAT CONTAINS THE BLUE AND ORANGE FIBERS, THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND OR LOCATED. I BELIEVE THEY'VE BEEN DESTROYED OR CONCEALED.
-SNIP-
WHICH SHE NEVER TOOK OFF. So, the orange fiber got tangled in her hair/choker when she was over at DW's selling GS cookies and running all over the house.
There is a common 'fiber' (had to make a PUN) to the participants in this thought pattern.
The POLICE, The DA, The DW is GUILTY no matter what crowd.
If the evidence doesn't pertain to showing DW Guilty, then they are not interested in it.
It is not a case of finding the TRUTH and punishing the guilty, it is a case of Punishing the one they picked to be GUILTY, regardless of the truth.
But it happens daily. Once you are in the 'system' you are screwed. The system has to 'devour' you to prove the system is OK.
As one poster said, "They police don't arrest you if you aren't guilty". And that is the way the system (and many people's minds) works.
Did they ever find the source of these orange acrylic fibers?
Is Westerfields carpet orange? Did they ever get Susan L., Danielle L., Neal, to say that Westerfield owned an orange acrylic blanket that he had in the home or the MH?
If my memory serves me right. NO! So where did these fibers come from?
Was Brenda VanDams top she wore that night orange,red acrylic? Did they ever test that top?
Interestingly, last night I was reviewing Tanya Dulaney's testimony from July 9. I ran across a revelation she gave on cross-exam. She was not able to identify a source, but from my understanding of her testimony she says the blue fibers are NOT carpet fibers but could be apparel fibers.:
4 Q. DID YOU MAKE ANY EFFORTS TO DO THE RESEARCH TO5 DETERMINE SO YOU COULD TELL THE JURY HOW COMMON THE FIBER WAS?
6 A. WELL, I KNOW THAT THE MAJORITY OF NYLON THAT IS7 PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES IS CARPET, AND THAT ABOUT TEN TO8 18 PERCENT IS APPAREL. AND IF THIS IS AN APPAREL FIBER -- IT'S9 DEFINITELY NOT A CARPET FIBER. IF IT'S AN APPAREL FIBER, THEN10 IT COULD BE RELATIVELY COMMON, YES.
Did you see my #25?
Dusek is going to argue the obvious: That Westerfield destroyed the source of the orange and blue fibers.
Mr. Dusek is not a witness. He can speculate all he wants and it means nothing.
As VRWC_minion would say, a negative proves nothing.
THE MISSING COWBOY BOOTS.
THE VICTIM'S PAJAMAS.
THE MATERIAL THAT CONTAINS THE BLUE AND ORANGE FIBERS.
And tell DUSEK while he's at it I had a BREIFCASE with a MILLION DOLLARS in it I left at the VD's and I want it back.
Yeah, and grandma got in trouble with Damon for doing so. You want Damon to get mad at you, keep mentioning the missing PJ's weren't really missing.
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