http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/20030109-9999-westerfield_documents.html
Documents detail rape allegation against Westerfield
SIGNONSANDIEGO
January 9, 2003
One of some 1,200 pages of court documents relating to the murder and kidnapping case against David Westerfield that were released Thursday.
Details of a rape allegation against convicted murderer David Westerfield were included in documents made public Thursday by Superior Court Judge Mudd.
The woman, identified in an unsealed court document as "Sara K." told police Westerfield raped her in a hotel room in 1991 while she was in San Diego attending an industry conference.
"I remember him pushing me onto the bed from the side," she told police. "The TV was still on. I said, 'No, don't do that' or something like 'No.' I'm not really clear what I said. I guess I froze. I covered my face with my hands and didn't do anything but say 'no' a few more times."
The woman did not testify during the penalty phase of Westerfield's trial. Prosecutors decided against it after discovering information about her psychiatric background and history of making rape allegations.
View April 22, 2002, prosecution motion detailing rape allegation, information on "Jenny N." allegation.
PDF document
From the U-T: Westerfield failed polygraph test badly
(The FREE Adobe Acrobat plug-in is necessary to view the above documents.)
The two had met in Florida earlier in the year at an orthopedic nurses convention, and had an idea to develop an orthopedic device.
Westerfield, a design engineer, worked on a number of orthepedic devices during his career. Last Friday, Mudd sentenced Westerfield to death for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, his neighbor in Sabre Springs.
The information was contained within 1,200 pages of unsealed documents released following legal motions by The San Diego Union-Tribune, which sought access to the information throughout the case. Mudd had refused, reasoning that the defendant's right to a fair trial might be compromised.
But the San Diego-based 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Mudd must release the information.
Audio tapes and a videotape of Westerfield being interrogated during the early stages of the investigation was released on Tuesday.
The material released Thursday ranges from transcripts of closed-door court hearings to motions regarding potential evidence.
Arguments over the rape allegation were among the numerous evidentiary hearings out of public view. The hearings also involved defense allegations that police violated Westerfield's rights during interrogations after Danielle was reported missing Feb. 2, 2002.
Mudd declined to release all the records sought by the newspaper. Among other things, he said he wouldn't release transcripts of sidebar conferences conducted during the trial. Those are hearings where the lawyers discuss issues at the bench, outside earshot of the jury and public.
The judge said it would take too much time and effort to document and release the dozens of sidebar conferences conducted during the three-month trial. He called it "a waste of my time, my reporter's time, counsels' time."
According to a prosecution motion filed April 22, the woman called authorities on March 14 after viewing TV coverage about the case. Westerfield encouraged the woman to visit San Diego so he could help her produce and market the device.
The alleged rape occured after a visit to the San Diego Zoo, in the woman's hotel room.
The motion also includes a transcript of police interrogator Paul Redden's polygraph interview with Westerfield Feb. 4, in which he relates his recollection of an incident involving "Jenny N.," a 19-year-old niece of Westerfield.
"Jenny N." testified that she had a strange experience with her uncle when she was between the ages of 5 and 7. Westerfield rubbed her teeth at night while she was upstairs trying to sleep with other child relatives, the girl testified.
Westerfield, asked by Redden if he could think of any reason why someone would think he was involved in Danielle's disappearance, related his version of the incident. He told the interrogator another girl's foot had become became lodged in "Jenny N's" pajama pants.
The girl's mother confronted Westerfield after "Jenny N." complained, he told Redden
I heard a little of the recording on the radio today and I have to say that he certainly was a Chatty Kathy. That probably just confirmed to the authorities his involvement. He just seemed to have an answer for everything. Impossible.