Posted on 07/31/2002 9:20:15 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Prosecution's bug expert struggles on stand |
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SAN DIEGO The insect expert prosecutors hoped would destroy David Westerfield's chances for acquittal stumbled badly during his turn on the witness stand Tuesday, capping confusing, overly technical testimony with the admission he made basic math errors in his findings. Madison Lee Goff, one of the most experienced scientists in the small field of forensic entomology, blushed a deep red as a defense lawyer for the man accused of killing Danielle van Dam repeatedly confronted him with five separate errors in data he used to analyze bugs collected at the 7-year-old's autopsy. "I made a mistake adding," said Goff, the chair of the forensic science department at Honolulu's Chaminade University and one of only nine certified forensic entomologists in North America. Entomology has become a battleground as Westerfield's two-month long capital murder trial draws to a close. The strongest evidence for the defense comes from this field in which insect specialists use the age of maggots and flies decomposing a body to help determine a time of death. Danielle, abducted from her bedroom Feb. 1, was missing 26 days and when her body was finally found, the medical examiner was unable to pinpoint when she was killed. Two forensic entomologists hired by the defense said their analyses suggested her body was dumped along a roadside in mid-February, long after Westerfield was under constant police surveillance. Prosecutors, who have a pile of other evidence against Westerfield, including hair, blood and fingerprint evidence, hired Goff soon after the first defense entomologist testified. Goff said Tuesday he disagreed with the conclusions of both defense experts, but the time frame he offered, Feb. 9 to Feb. 14, was only slightly earlier than theirs and did not neatly fit the prosecution's theory that Danielle was killed between Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 while Westerfield claims he was on a solo camping trip. Prosecutor Jeff Dusek had to question his own expert in much the same way as he cross-examined the defense experts, hinting that variables in the weather and the disposal of Danielle's body cast doubt on the certainty of any entomological findings. Goff agreed that very hot, very dry weather conditions in San Diego in February might have mummified Danielle's 58-pound body almost immediately and that flies may not have been attracted to the desiccated body. A forensic anthropologist, called by the prosecution last week to cast doubt on the bug evidence, said the insects may have arrived later and only after coyotes and other animals began scavenging her body and Goff said this scenario seemed possible. He also said a covering, such as a blanket, might have kept flies at bay initially. No covering was found and Goff later said the longest delay by such a shroud was two and a half days. Much of his testimony was a detailed view into the mathematical nuts and bolts of his conclusions. Goff did not look at the bugs himself. Instead, he reviewed photos and the reports of the defense experts. He told jurors he came up with four separate time lines based on two different temperatures at two separate locations, a golf course a mile and a half from the crime scene and National Weather Service station farther away. Goff's testimony bounced between these four sets of findings and even after he said the lower temperature and the weather service station provided the most reliable, appropriate date, it was often unclear which findings he was referring to. He peppered his speech with entomological jargon like "accumulated degree hours" and referred to blowflies by their the Latin names. He talked about temperatures in Celsius degrees, frequently prompting Dusek to ask for a Fahrenheit translation. Much of his work seemed lost on jurors, who stopped taking notes early on in his testimony. 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. Danielle's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, watched most of the testimony from the back row of the courtroom, occasionally flinching as Goff described the condition of their daughter's remains. The prosecution rested its rebuttal case after Goff's testimony. There will be no witnesses Wednesday and the defense will put on its sur-rebuttal case Thursday. Closing arguments could happen as early as next Monday. Also Tuesday, a lab technician testified that orange clothes some law enforcement officers wore when searching Westerfield's house were not the source of fibers found in both the defendant's home and in Danielle's necklace. The trial is being broadcast live on Court TV. |
Agree about the closing arguments. But oh, I am hoping Feldman goes last.
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Tamera Brooks, 16, and Jaqueline Marris, 17, were sitting in separate cars with two male friends when they were approached by a man shortly after 1 a.m. The man forced Brooks out of her vehicle at gunpoint, then approached Marris, who was in a 1980 Ford Bronco, authorities said.
The man, described in his mid-30s to early 40s, tied up one of the friends and sped away in the white Ford Bronco with a blue-grey camper shell with both girls inside, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. The Bronco has California licence plate number 1AIZ962. The truck has raised large raised tires and a D&D Muffler sticker in the rear window.
Brooks is described as a 5'4" black female weighing approximately 125 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a red shirt with a butterfly on the sleeve, dark shorts and tan sandals. Marris is described as a white female with dyed jet black hair. She is approximately 5'4" tall, weighs 120 pounds and was last seen wearing a black shirt and dark pants.
"He told me he was going to kill me but he didn't want to," an 18-year-old man told NBC4. The teen, who had duct tape on his arms and legs, said he was blindfolded and tied to a post while the kidnapper took away his female friend. "He just kept telling her to stay down, keep her head down, don't look at him."
Efflandt said the man poured gasoline over one of the vehicles, apparently trying to torch it, but was unsuccessful.
Sheriff's investigators also said the man left behind a vehicle that was reported stolen in a carjacking in Nevada. No other details were immediately available.
The remote area where the kidnapping occurred is a place frequented by young people, Capt. Tom Pigott said.
A command post has been set up and sheriff's deputies notified the FBI and the Border Patrol.
"It's a life and death situation," Pigott said. "We're just trying to locate these young girls."
Authorities have asked the public to be extremely careful in this situation. Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles sheriff's deptartment said, "Obviously, the driver of this vehicle is considered armed and dangerous. You need to use caution. If you see this vehicle, stay away."
Jauch urged people who see the Bronco to call 911, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department at (323) 526-5541 or the Lancaster station at 661-966-8466.
Sheriff's deputies used the "Amber Alert" system, which uses radio and television bulletins to announce that a child may have been abducted. The plan is named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who in 1996 was kidnapped and later found dead in Arlington, Texas.
Lancaster is 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
And so..once again, she makes a case for sequestering the jury. No gag order for CTV's biased reporting, I guess.
JUDGE MUDD!!!!
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Does this just make the poor guys day, or what?
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HOT LEGS-Rod Stewart....
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 21, 2002
A few weeks ago, a waitress at Dad's Cafe and Steakhouse in Poway noticed a middle-aged couple taking pictures in front of the restaurant, like tourists posing in front of Niagara Falls.
The couple said they were visiting from New York and had been following David Westerfield's murder trial on television. They wanted everyone back home to know they'd made a trip to the famous nightspot.
"People come here just to gawk," said Patrick Lipe, the co-owner of Dad's, as he sat in one of the bar's burgundy vinyl booths. "Our phone has rung so many times from people asking directions to this place."
Dad's is a magnet for strangers these days. They come from all parts of San Diego and beyond. On Friday night, the crowd included a woman from Maine who traveled across the country just to visit Dad's and several other locales that have become notorious in the case of Westerfield, 50, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.
Some people walk in, look around and walk out. Not long ago, one guy prowled around the parking lot snapping photos of the restaurant from several angles, telling Lipe he was taking the pictures for posterity.
Some stay long enough to order a beer or a meal, and pepper the staff with questions about where Danielle's mother, Brenda, was dancing, and which barstool Westerfield was sitting on, and where Barbara and Denise were playing pool on the last night the second-grader was seen alive.
Lipe usually obliges by giving what he wearily describes as "the 5-cent tour." Here's the spot where van Dam and Westerfield may or may not have shared a dance. In the corner is where Barbara Easton stuck her hand down Yvette Wetli's blouse. In front is the smoking lounge where Duane the fisherman spotted Keith and Rich looking drunk and stoned on the night of Feb. 1.
Lipe, a burly man with graying red hair, says he's happy for the extra business but uneasy about the reasons for it. He understands that the restaurant is now linked in the public consciousness with a child's horrifying death.
He also worries that the Westerfield trial with its soap-opera-like testimony about marijuana smoking, wife-swapping, vodka-swilling and dirty dancing has created a misperception about the bar.
Lipe wants people to understand that Dad's is a family place, the kind of homey nightspot where the staff has been known to hand out fresh-baked cookies on Friday and Saturday nights. The restaurant sponsors two Little League teams.
Lipe has gone so far as to cancel the weekly swing-dance lessons to avoid subjecting the establishment to further ridicule.
"The publicity is a good thing," he said. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But that little girl is never coming back."
Feel free to ping me with any "relevant" testimony.
Apologies, people, I know it's rude..sorry..
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Neal testified to finding the cd's and disks himself hidden behind the books on the shelf right where police found them.
But there's no evidence showing that he was in the house that night. How can you convict if you can't place the dfendant at the scene of the crime?
As for the child porn, has it actually been proven that the photos were of underage children?
This WOULD be a clear indication. It certainly has not been shown and Feldman did not indicate it was the case. (and maybe it was viewed, downloaded and deleted off computer)
Viewing naked women
Some images may be of girls, not women. We'll have to hear from the jury on this as none of us can know from where we're sitting.
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