Jury Selection Begins in Van Dam Murder Case

SAN DIEGO ---- Jury selection got off to a slow start Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, as prosecutors and the defense struggled to find people who had not already made up their minds about the high-profile case.

Prospective jurors repeatedly said they followed at least some of the intense media coverage and would have trouble being impartial in the case of a murdered child.

"I have opinions based on what I've seen on the news," said one prospective juror before he was dismissed by Superior Court Judge William Mudd. "I don't think I could be fair."

David Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography. If he's convicted, Westerfield could receive the death penalty.

One woman was removed from the jury pool after she told the court she has a friend whose daughter attends Creekside Elementary, where Danielle went to school. The names of the prospective jurors weren't released.

A San Diego school principal who lives near the van Dam home told the judge, "I don't know if I can be fair and impartial." But she was allowed to remain after Mudd decided her profession trained her to take a balanced look at facts.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek quizzed prospective jurors about whether they would be able to view photos of Danielle's corpse along with child pornography allegedly seized from the home of Westerfield, the engineer accused of kidnapping and killing the girl.

Prospective jurors also were asked about bias against Danielle's parents, Damon and Brenda van Dam, who were criticized on talk radio and other media for smoking marijuana and drinking on the night of their daughter's disappearance from their Sabre Springs home.

The girl vanished from her bedroom in early February. Three weeks later, volunteers found her nude body along a road east of San Diego. Investigators say they found the girl's blood, hair and fingerprints in Westerfield's motor home.

Prospective jurors were asked whether they would be willing to impose the death penalty punishment if Westerfield is found guilty.

The judge dismissed those who said they could never sentence someone to death or who appeared too eager to do so.

The attorneys and the judge are trying to pick 12 jurors and six alternates for a trial that is expected to last at least two months. The pool began with about 260 people who answered a lengthy questionnaire.

It took nearly four hours to question the first 20 prospective jurors. Twelve were dismissed by the judge from the first group. At the end of the process, the prosecution and defense can each strike another 20 jurors from the final pool.

The twice-divorced engineer insisted on his right to a speedy trial, which caused the start of jury selection in a capital murder case with unusual haste. Opening arguments are expected next week.

Death penalty key issue before panel's prospects

By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 29, 2002

Lawyers in the David Westerfield case began interviewing scores of potential jurors yesterday, many of whom expressed strong support for the death penalty, especially when a child has been killed.

"If he's convicted of what he's accused of, I would think the death penalty is in order," one man said during jury selection in San Diego Superior Court.

Others, though, admitted feeling uneasy at the thought of condemning a person to die.

"I can't feel comfortable knowing that I would vote to take someone's life," one woman said.

Westerfield, 50, is charged with kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who lived two doors away in Sabre Springs. Her body was found Feb. 27 off a rural road east of El Cajon.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the twice-divorced design engineer, who they believe sexually molested the girl.

During a day of gentle but persistent questioning by lawyers in the case, potential jurors also discussed a variety of other subjects, including whether they could handle the gruesome details associated with the death of a young girl. Several said they weren't sure they could.

"The rights of children are uppermost in my mind, and I would have a hard time looking at the defendant," said a woman who identified herself as a principal with the San Diego Unified School District.

The potential jurors were identified in court by number, not name.

So began the first day of voir dire , the process by which the lawyers question the pool of prospective jurors. The lawyers asked about their views on capital punishment, their exposure to media coverage and their ability to be fair and impartial.

Judge William Mudd plans to seat 12 jurors and six alternates for a trial that is estimated to last 12 weeks. Opening statements are expected in early June.

On May 17, roughly 260 potential jurors filled out 21-page questionnaires probing their thoughts on a wide range of subjects. Starting yesterday, the judge began summoning these jurors back to court at a rate of 40 per day to begin the voir dire process.

By the end of court yesterday, 28 of the 40 had been excused and the remaining 12 were told to return today.

In a death-penalty case, the prosecution and the defense can excuse 20 jurors apiece for almost any reason other than the juror's race, gender or several other limited factors.

Prosecutors used seven of their challenges yesterday, while Westerfield's lawyers used four. In addition to the 20 challenges apiece, each side will get six challenges during the process of selecting six alternate jurors. The alternates are chosen once the regular 12-person jury has been selected.

The judge also has the authority to excuse an unlimited number of jurors who say they can't be fair and impartial. Judge Mudd used that authority to excuse several members of yesterday's pool, including two who said they were already convinced that Westerfield killed the girl.

"I have opinions based on what I've seen from the news and such . . . that he's guilty," said one of the two, a man identified as Juror No. 17.

Most of those questioned said they believed in the concept of innocent until proved guilty. And while virtually everyone acknowledged hearing about the case in the media, most said they were capable of reserving judgment until they heard all the facts.

In addition to excusing jurors who can't be fair, the judge may also excuse jurors who are morally opposed to the death penalty or who believe it should be imposed in all murder cases, regardless of the facts.

In capital cases, jurors must be open-minded about imposing either the death penalty or life without parole. Jurors must choose between death or life without parole if they find the defendant guilty of the charges.

Most of those questioned yesterday expressed at least a qualified support for capital punishment. "If you kill children, well, an eye for an eye," one man said. A woman said anyone convicted of killing a child should be put to death because "that is the penalty the child suffered."

Several, however, said they were uneasy with the idea of capital punishment.

"I don't like relinquishing that power to anybody the state or anybody," one man stated.

Westerfield's lead attorney Steven Feldman warned the potential jurors that sitting on the case would be "an extraordinarily intense experience." He told them they would be required to look at "very, very grim" crime-scene and autopsy photos.

He also warned them they would be forced to view pornography depicting "naked pre-pubescent girls" and "very, very graphic sex." Westerfield also faces misdemeanor charges of possessing child pornography.

In their questionnaires, several jurors labeled such pornography "sick," although one woman said she didn't think pornography was such a big deal. "Different strokes for different folks," she said.

Jury selection will resume today.

Alex Roth: (619) 542-4558;

WESTERFIELD JURY MAY BE SELECTED BY END OF WEEK

( 05-29-2002 ) - Jury selection in the David Westerfield trial resumed today, in a pace that's faster than expected. The third group of 20 potential jurors was questioned Wednesday afternoon. So far, 36 people have been dismissed with 12 asked to return as potential jurors. No one has been selected yet out of more than 250 in the jury pool.

Out of the 20 potential jurors questioned Wednesday morning, nine of them were dropped from the jury pool, as courtroom questioning continued for a second day in the trial of David Westerfield, the man accused of killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

For the second day in a row, potential jurors were asked about their opinions on the death penalty, which could be sought if 50-year-old David Westerfield is found guilty.

Some said it would be a horrible decision to make and others said, 'it's an eye for an eye.'

Jurors were also asked about excessive pretrial publicity and if it would affect their ability to be fair and impartial.

Three men and a woman were dismissed immediately because of their responses
on questionnaires filled out May 17.

One young man said that "because of media coverage," he would vote Westerfield guilty. And a woman, who remained in consideration, said she found media coverage of the case "disgusting" and began to ignore it.

Another woman was asked by defense attorney Robert Boyce if the charges make it more likely that Westerfield is guilty.

"I don't feel he would be here today if there weren't a set of evidence against him," she answered. "It's not a complete blank slate when you're charged with murder."

The defense and prosecution also told the potential jurors that they would have to view explicit photos of Danielle van Dam's decomposing body and images of child pornography found in David Westerfield's computer.

Some said that type of material would not affect the outcome in determining the fate of the self-employed engineer.

"It sounds to me that it's going along much faster than I expected," said LOCAL 8 Legal Analyst, Bill Nimmo. "It sounds like their combining the Hovey, or the death qualification voir dire (the gathering of potential jurors) with general voir dire. And once they get done asking those death questions, they're shifting right into some sort of a use of these preemptory challenges."

Forty potential panelists are being brought in for questioning each day in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge William Mudd, 20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon. The process will continue until a jury of 12 is picked along with six alternates.

Like Tuesday's panels, those brought in today were mostly white, of varying ages and divided roughly evenly between men and women.

Statement by Brenda & Damon van Dam

“With today's confirmation that our beloved Danielle will never again be physically present in our lives, we are experiencing the depths of sadness, loss and grief which only parents who have lost children under similar circumstances can fully comprehend.

These emotions are being tempered by an overwhelming sense of gratitude and closure. There is not a more anxious feeling for parents than to not know where our children are. While the past seven years we've had the peace and confidence of always knowing where Danielle was and that she was safe, someone took that away from us almost four weeks ago. But now with love for an innocent child -- and for one another -- the community has brought her back to us, and for that gift we offer our most sincere and heartfelt thanks. Even though the final outcome is horrible, we could not have imagined the rest of our lives without this closure.

Love has conquered evil in our community. This is Danielle's legacy and we couldn't be more proud. As we were praying this morning with the incredible volunteer searchers who actually found our daughter, our personal prayer was that God would share our little angel with everyone who helped to find her.

Thousands of people have stepped forward in extraordinary ways since Danielle was abducted. The entire search effort was started by the Laura Recovery Center Foundation and later carried out by our local organization, the Danielle Search Center. More than 2,500 people generously donated their time and energy to the search, and countless more helped behind the scenes.

We also want to thank the San Diego Police Department for the thorough and caring approach they have given to Danielle's abduction and murder. They are among the finest individuals we've ever known.

Danielle was a very special, beautiful, loving little girl. We miss her desperately but find comfort in knowing that she is now safe again and at peace. For Danielle, our family, friends and neighbors, we thank you for unifying us into such a giving community. We will be forever grateful to all of you."

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