Trial of David Westerfield: Experts Testify At Closed-door Sessions: (DEFENSE BEGINS!! 7-02-2002)

Union Trib ^ | July 2, 2002 | Union Trib

[FresnoDA]

Animal genetics experts testify at closed-door sessions

SIGNONSANDIEGO

July 1, 2002

Two experts on animal genetics testified today in a closed-door hearing to determine if the prosecution will be able to call one last witness in the David Westerfield trial before resting its case.

One of the witnesses seen entering the courtroom for the hearing outside the jury's presence was Oliver Ryder.

Ryder is an adjunct professor of biology at UCSD and works for the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species at the San Diego Zoo.

Joy Halverson, a canine DNA specialist with QuestGen Forensics in Davis, also testified.

A third man who took the stand declined to be identified.

Westerfield, 50, is charged with kidnapping, murder and misdemeanor possession of child pornography in the disappearance and killing of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. The self-employed design engineer could get the death penalty if convicted of the felony charges.

Dogs have played crucial roles in the prosecution's case.

A volunteer handler testified last week that two search dogs alerted several times while sniffing in Westerfield's motorhome four days after the victim was reported missing.

Also, police evidence technicians say hair consistent with Danielle van Dam's dog was found in the defendant's laundry.

Superior Court Judge William Mudd is scheduled to announce his decision on the final prosecution witness when the trial resumes tomorrow morning. Mudd has told defense attorney Steven Feldman to be ready to call his first witness tomorrow. Feldman has indicated he should be able to conclude his case by July 15.

Feldman told the judge he plans to call insect expert David Faulkner to the stand to try to pinpoint the time of Danielle's death.

In his opening statement, Feldman said the child's nude body could have been placed off a road in Dehesa as late as Feb. 16, a dozen days after his client came under 24-hour surveillance by law enforcement.

Prosecutors theorize that Westerfield killed the Sabre Springs second-grader and dumped her body at the East County site shortly after she disappeared Feb. 2. Volunteer searchers found the girl's decomposing body off Dehasa Road on Feb. 27.

Westerfield was arrested Feb. 22.

[MizSterious]

Orange fiber---hardyharharhar--too funny, Jaded!

[Space Wrangler]

Okay, while I haven't followed this trial with the same zeal many of you have, having an objective mind and looking at all the evidence the prosecution has presented, there is no way I could vote to convict DW. It's all very weak to me. There are still many questions that remain in why the prosecution and LE didn't test many of the pieces of trace evidence recovered in the DW home and MH. Is it just me here?? I would love to see the guilty party convicted of this, but I don't think with what I've seen so far that I could convict. IMO, it's the defense's case to lose. There are some things that kind of nag at me though. The blood on the green jacket being Danielle's, and the hair's that 'could not be excluded' found in his dryer. If I see the defense explain that away plausibly, looks like DW will walk. Any feeling on this from anyone? Am I the only one that just doesn't see DW getting convicted??

[Helen]

Oops...that was meant as a reply to Spectre's comment...sorry 'bout that. But it still needed to be repeated!

[MizSterious]

Question: Can you reason with a wood stump? How about a brick wall?

Oh, never mind--it was one of those rhetorical questions, wasn't it!

[spectre]

Well, we could just put

" Standard Disclaimer Ditto"

at the bottom of any of our posts where we have to address the porno issue.

And to answer your question...NO, some people don't want to "get it"..

sw

[MizSterious]

The hair could have been transferred at various times. The blood, in my opinion, might be the one piece of evidence that's worthwhile, unless Feldman can explain it. The rest of what they've come up with (see Jaded's website for a really good compendium of evidence, near evidence, and imagined evidence) is mostly smoke and mirrors.

[nycgal]

I'd like to see a trial thread; not someone's personal fetish or thrill. Enough already !!!

I agree with you 100%

[spectre]

Yes, Helen. We need to send those who need a Pedophilia "fix" for the day....over to that thread.

"scoot...ya'll.."

sw

[MizSterious]

Post the url, for easy "scooting."

[bird humming]

I know I missed it somewhere, but what about Barb's testimony? Wasn't she supposed to be a witness for the prosecution? The woman who went to Dad's w/BvD & the other girlfriend.

[spectre]

"Am I the only one who just doesn't see DW being convicted"...

I'll be more comfortable with that statement after the Forensics testimony from Faulkner, etc.

Stay tuned...sw

[MizSterious]

From one of the spams above--

Many pedophiles collect academic and scientific books and articles on the nature of pedophilia in an effort to understand and justify their own behavior..

Hmmmm. No comment.

[Rheo]

You didn't miss it...Barb was never called as a witness by the prosecution.

That has many of us wondering why or if the defense may call her.

[AppyPappy]

Try again. He has PEDOPHILE porn on his computer.

[Space Wrangler]

Yes, the blood is the one sticking point for me. I still can't see this guy going in, abducting, raping, and killing this little girl and not leave any evidence. It all just seems so highly unlikely, and IMO the prosecution has failed miserably in making a case. With all things equal, I can't see a conviction. The prosecution has failed to present a coherent theory of the crime, non-LE eyewitnesses, or a clear explanation of what little evidence they have means. The dog hair is a red-herring issue as far as I'm concerned. I would be willing to bet that if you looked hard enough, you'd find my neighbors dog hair in my house too. Dogs shed, and just the proximity of the homes would dictate that it is not only possible, but likely the VD's dog's hair would wind up in not only DW's home, but probably several others in the neighborhood. So, it looks to me that the blood on the jacket is the only concrete piece of evidence they have. With the absence of a plausible theory of the crime, the blood evidence and fifty cents will get you a coke, which is to say it's basically nothing.

[MizSterious]

Interestingly enough, we haven't heard if they found dog hairs in the homes or dryer filters in the other homes Danielle visited, either selling cookies or playing with her friends.

[spectre]

I can't post URl's...If someone else, ahem.., could be so kind...?

The "scoot and scatter" URL should lead the addicts to the Pedophile threads and is only the proper way to handle this delicate situation....a gentle nudge.

sw

[Doc Savage]

Kimchee is obviously obsessed with porn. I just wonder what jpegs are lurking on her hard drive under multiple-lock passwords???

One can literally have a field day captioning these two yoyo's, but when thinking how odd these twits are I keep going back to what must have been one of the strangest moments in this case.

I make reference to that singular moment when Douglas Pierce had a letter from Danielle to the Demon Seed thrust into his hands. To read his account of the hairs on the back of his neck standing up makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

From a purely psychological viewpoint, how extremely Freudian that Bosomy Brenda the Town Tart doesn't choose a favorite play toy or article of clothing to give him.

No, she gives him the strangest and most provocative note which states little Danielle's desire for her father's forgiveness. Hmmmmmmmm. Was Brenda trying to slap the Demon Seed down for something he might have done????

I have often tried to imagine myself in Pierce's place at that moment,...Brenda to one side urging me to read this most intimate and bizarre letter from her now missing daughter, and the Demon Seed on my other side scowling at both of us. How completely odd and utterly frightening that moment must have been.

It seems beyond imagination that a father would molest his own daughter perpetrating an incestuous relationship, and yet it has happened before and continues to happen today. Just looking at that photo Fres says a thousand silent words about these two.

Forget the lack of saddness and despair demonstrated by these two charlatans, forget the misuse of the donated money, forget the lies and deceit to the police, media and public, forget the drug use, the wife swapping, the heavy drinking,...these two know something much more sinister, much darker than we could ever imagine.

[Space Wrangler]

Did they even check any other homes?? Sounds to me like they zeroed in on Westerfield pretty early on, and right or wrong, that's the trail they stayed on. I still would like to know the REAL reason they keyed in on the home of DW. The un-rolled waterhose is BS. Surely these detectives had some type of solid reasoning to put him under the microscope.

[Rheo]

Am I the only one that just doesn't see DW getting convicted??

It's hard to see him getting convicted on the case presented so far and the outstanding questions that haven't been addressed.

But...seeing some of the posters on FR that want him convicted already without having heard the defense and the media lies...it is possible he could be.

The defense has got to be able to prove she was in that MH at any point prior to 2/1, even with Faulkners testimony possibly showing a later death...the fibers in his laundry and on her body...the computer access dates.

I hope the defense puts on a better case than the prosecution.