Jury begins deliberations -Prosecutor says victim has pointed to her killer (keep it civil)

UNION-TRIBUNE signonsandiego.com ^ | August 9, 2002 | Alex Roth

[dread78645]

Jurors in the David Westerfield trial began deliberating yesterday after hearing a final statement from the lead prosecutor, who beamed a photo of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam onto the wall and urged the jury to focus on the physical evidence.

Finishing closing arguments in the two-month murder trial, prosecutor Jeff Dusek called a blood spot on Westerfield's jacket the "smoking gun." And Dusek imagined what Danielle might tell the jury if someone could bring her back to life "just for a moment" so she could answer the question, "Please tell us who did this to you."

"I've already told you," Dusek said the girl would tell the jury. "I've told you with my hair and where you found it. I've told you with the orange fiber that you found on my choker, and where you found it.

[mommya]

Hey all - just flipped it on channel 5 - the "Law and Order" show - one of the cases has Judge Mudd as the judge - he was making his usual Padres remarks - check it out.

[fatima]

Just read a general write up,is that it, sorry for typo-instructions.

[hoosiermama]

Don't really think the "theory" has legs. Most would wonder whee he got it and was it credible? But, since I do not think he committed the crime,I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

[small_l_libertarian]

No, me neither. But if Dusek had put a psychiatrist on the stand who could convince me that this was an actual condition and that DW had it, that would be a lot more plausible to me than that Mr. Average 50-year-old guy suddenly decided to take up pedophilism. Know what I mean?

[mommya]

Just another strange quirk in this trial - that over the weekend during jury deliberations - this particular "Crime and Punishment" would be on. One of the cases had Judge Mudd - his courtroom - the stenographer with the clicky nails - everything. The other case involves a drunk driver who hit and killed a boy on Poway rd. - her name - Rene Keyser - any relation to Keyser of "Keyser and Ott"?

[bvw]

Mexican standoff, I think, on the psych angles.

[small_l_libertarian]

Oh, I don't care one way or the other, 'cuz I still don't think he did it. :-)

Just thought that somebody came up with a better prosecution theory than the prosecutor did.

[John Jamieson]

Sorry for encouraging anyone to watch First Shot, it was really bad.....VRWC tries to kill the pres. F-

[hoosiermama]

Mr. Average 50-year-old guys may decide to go for someone half his age, but I'd wager this month rent against pedophilism. No way. Trophy for his arm, but not kiddy stuff. It's an ego thing!

[small_l_libertarian]

Exactly. I know this is in no way logical, but he just doesn't seem like the freaky type to me.

[hoosiermama]

He reminds me of several people from my past. Little "nerdy" but definately NOT freaky..... Too meticulous for that. As my friend says "pleasantly eccentric in a creative sort of way"! The drinking is part of the persona.

[hoosiermama]

P.S. Actually it's what you get when you cross a conservative with an artist ;^)

[small_l_libertarian]

:-)

[Jaded]

LOL. Thanks, that explains alot.

[the-gooroo]

The prosecutors paint this man as a monster, a brutal out of control rapist and child murderer. Someone whose obsession for porn is so strong that he has no control over his compulsion to harm innocent children. ....... Does anyone else think that if this were true that we would have seen hundreds of disgusting e-mail messages with like minded people? Dirty magazine subscriptions, X-rated video's that he owned or rented, books and photos of naked children, some testimony from adults and children stating how "creepy" he is, not because he's generous (duh-knees) but because of inappropriate behavior.?????? Is it just me or does this drive anybody else crazy?

[The Other Harry]

Is it just me or does this drive anybody else crazy?

Agree. Given that he had an internet connection, I think if he were genuinely a pedophile there would have a ton of evidence of that on his computer.

The way I understand things, of the tousands of images that had been archived on the CD's, there were only about 80 that appeared to depict under-age girls. Of those, there were something like 16 that depicted pre-pubescent females, and some of those were animations. No other evidence on the computer or in his past to indicate pedophelia.

I don't buy it.

[hoosiermama]

I've been thinking about you analysis of the jury. Did you actually compare it to the profiling you did for the people on this thread?

[Jaded]

The computer experts, Lawson and Watkins said there was NO pre-pubescent porn. There were some pics that they could not determine if the girls were under 18 or not.

[Rheo]

The other case involves a drunk driver who hit and killed a boy on Poway rd. - her name - Rene Keyser - any relation to Keyser of "Keyser and Ott"?

Hi mommya!....her name was spelled Kayser, so it doesn't appear to be a relation to Keyser.

[sunshine state]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I'm in Florida, but not near the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area. I may start nosing around in the public records and see what I can find...