Westerfield attorney's begin defense
Posted on 07/02/2002 6:10:56 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Westerfield attorney's begin defense
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July 2, 2002 A recovery dog behaved normally during an inspection of the motor home of murder defendant David Westerfield, a police investigator testified at the outset of the defendant's case this afternoon. Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday morning against the man accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, but the judge said there is an unspecified witness the prosecution may call before the trial ends. Attorneys for Westerfield began calling defense witnesses this afternoon. Dog's behavior recounted "The dog went around the motor home with Mr. Frazee in close attendance," the officer said. "The dog examined each of the lower equipment bays on the motor home, again with Mr. Frazee in close attendance and that is all I can recall of my observing." Frazee has previously testified that his dog "alerted" to the possible scent of a cadaver on the motor home. Under cross examination by prosector Jeff Dusek, the investigator testified that he had no formal training in dog handling. Neighbors testify No witnesses have recalled seeing the defendant do that on the weekend in Febuary that the victim, Danielle van Dam, disappeared. Westerfield parked his motor home around the corner from his home as television news crews invaded the neighborhood to report on the well-publized search for the child Feb. 2, and returned without it on Feb. 4, after embarking on a rambling journey around San Diego and Imperial counties. Software enginer Mark Roehr, who lives across the street from Westerfield, testified that he and his wife Janet have socialized with Westerfield over the last four years. Roehr said the defendant would park his motor home in front of his home for a period of time ranging anywhere from a day to several days. Roehr agreed under questioning from Boyce, that Sabre Springs was a family neighborhood where a range of school-age children could be seen walking its streets. Roehr said he found Westerfield's motor home unlocked at one time. Prosecutors have presented forensice evidence that blood and hair from the victim was found in the motor home. The Roehrs returned to the Sabre Springs neighborhood around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 after a day of house-hunting to learn of Danielle's disappearance, according to the testimony. Westerfield appeared moments later in his motor home. Roehr said his neighbor was unable to get to his home because of the presence of the news media, and because authorities had taped off certain parts of the neighborhood. "He pulled up on Briar Leafe toward Mountain Pass road then gave me a sign like 'what's going on?' " Roehr said. "Rather than try to explain through the window of the motor home, I just pointed him down the street toward Mountain Pass to find a place to park." Under cross examination from Dusek, Roehr said that it had been several months since Westerfield had brought his motor home into the neighborhood. He also said that he had never seen school-age children in the motor home. The couple had been in the neighborhood around 10:30 a.m. the morning of the girl's disappearance, but at the time had noticed nothing unusual, Roehr said, under the prosecutor's questioning. Westerfield was not seen in the neighborhood then, Roehr said. Roehr also said he never checked the motor home's door daily to see if it was locked. "Did it appear that when the motor home would be brought into the neighborhood it was in preparation for a trip?" asked Dusek. "Typically, yes," Roehr said. "Why do you say that?" "Because I know that's what he does. He comes in, he cleans the windows, gets it ready -- because it's stored some place where it gets dirty. He gets it prepared." The prosecutor noted that it appeared to be "a ritual" when Westerfield was planning for a trip." On most occasions, Roehr said, Westerfield would be accompanied by his son, or a girlfriend. 'Helpful and friendly' Under questioning from Dusek, she testified that she had never been in the upstairs part of Westerfield's home, or his office. She too recalled seeing Westerfield's motor home arrive on that Saturday afternoon, but admitted to Dusek that it wasn't typical to see him in the motor home alone. Typically, she said, someone drove with him in a car to assist in picking up and dropping off the motor home from storage. "Did he have anyone with him this day," said Dusek. "No," she replied. Focus on hose: Prosecutors have made much of a garden hose being left out in front of the defendant's home on the weekend the victim disappeared and he left on the trip in his motor home. "Was it unsual for Mr. Westerfield to leave his hose unraveled on the front lawn?" asked Boyce. "I don't think so," Hung said. "You've seen it like that before." "Yes I have." Hung also verified that the motor home had been left in the neighborhood and that children were also seen in the vicinity. Another defense witness shared little more with the jury than his name and title before being dismissed. Boyce asked Richard Maler, a San Diego police robbery detective, if he had interviewed Keith Stone on Feb 2. Stone, a construction project manager, was with Brenda van Dam and two of her friends the night before the victim vanished. The interview took place at a police substation. But once Boyce asked Maler if Stone had told him where he had been that night, prosecutor Dusek raised an objection that led to a lengthy sidebar discussion between the judge and attorneys. When it ended, the witness was excused without a public explanation. The day's final witness was police detective Johnny Keene, who recounted the times he contacted Westerfield on Monday Feb. 4, upon his return to the neighborhood. His first contact was around 9:30 that morning he said, under questioning from defense attorney Steven Feldman, and lasted until around noon. There was a period of time when Westerfield accompanied them to an inspection of the motorhome on Skyridge Road. The defense attorney appeared irritated when Dusek produced a photograph that showed Keene and other authorities looking through Westerfield's garage, with the defendant present. The photograph, taken sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., was apparently introduced by Dusek to show the investigator was wearing gloves when he was going through the garage. It appeared to be the first time Westerfield's defense attorney had seen the rather sizeable photograph. "We see a man inside of his house," Feldman said, holding up the photograph for jurors to see. "Who's that?" After Keene identified him as a police sergeant, Feldman noted the man was standing in the area of the washer-dryer. "Do you see any sweat on Mr. Westerfield's armpits," the defense attorney said. "Not in that photo." Previously, authorities have testified Westerfield was sweating profusely when they contacted him, though the weather was relatively cool. After the jury was excused for the day, Feldman complained that he had not been previously provided a copy of the photo. Prosecutors rested their case Westerfield is accused of sneaking into the van Dam's Sabre Springs house on Feb. 2 and abducting Danielle, then killing her and dumping her body off rural Dehesa Road near El Cajon. Today was the 15th day of testimony in the case and the 17th overall day of court activity since the trial began on June 4. Judge William Mudd told jurors before the start of a noon lunch break that an additional prosecution witness had not been able to develop his or her testimony due to the speed with which the trial began and that prosecutors might call that witness "if and when that witness becomes relevant." Dog evidenceLawyers spent much of Tuesday morning revisiting the testimony of a dog handler who said his dog "alerted" to the possible scent of a cadaver on Westerfield's motor home in a police impound yard on Feb. 6.Canine handler Jim Frazee initially testified on Wednesday, June 26. Testimony didn't resume until today because jurors toured the motor home Wednesday afternoon and lawyers for both sides met with the judge to discuss witnesses and related legal issues on Thursday and Monday. There is usually no court activity on Fridays. Though his dog, Cielo, sat down, looked at him and barked after sniffing a storage compartment, Frazee admitted he wasn't sure the dog had had a valid reaction until he learned on Feb. 22 that Westerfield had been arrested and a blood stain had been found in the vehicle. The dog didn't give an "alert" after it was allowed to sniff a shovel and lawn chair stored in the compartment and failed to react after a second trip around the motor home, Frazee said. "'I didn' t know what to make of what Cielo did and left the scene wondering,'" Frazee said, reading from a Feb. 22 e-mail he had sent to friends about the incident. Both Cielo and Frazee's other search-and-rescue dog, Hopi, had failed to react during a previous inspection of the motor home at its storage area on Feb. 4. A defense attorney for Westerfield asked Frazee if he knew he had the nickname "180-Frank." "You have that because when you and your dog search in one direction, everyone goes in the other direction," Robert Boyce said. "I've never heard that," Frazee replied. Another dog handler, Rosemary Redditt, testified Tuesday morning that she saw Cielo's behavior at the motor home on Feb. 6 and had no question that the dog had actually given an alert. Other developmentsAnimal DNA analyst Joy Halverson testified that dog hairs found on Westerfield's laundry and in his motor home could have come from the van Dam family dog, Layla.Westerfield's lead defense attorney, Steven Feldman, questioned Halverson's credentials and methods, noting that her interpretation of the DNA evidence changed between her first report, a follow-up report and a presentation in the courtroom. There won't be any court activity on Thursday, due to the Independence Day holiday, or on Friday. Mudd told jurors he might have to change his rule against court activity on Fridays and hold a session on Friday, July 12. Mudd has said he plans to take July 15-19 off for his wedding anniversary.
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And the girl's blood on his clothing.
The DNA on her blanket excluded DW but was not matched to anyone else.
Because the sexfests were in the *garage*? Sorry, I couldn't help myself. ("VD" house gets me, too). That's a good question tho. I wonder why the police haven't processed the other "unknown" fingerprints found in the house.
More and more it sounds like a frame-up.
Anyone hear Wendy Murphy's ugly thoughts on FOXNews today?
Hey, I'm no Perry Mason.
I'm not aware of this finding, Rheo (I haven't read *every* post about the crime), but it seems to me, that if the pj's left behind had blood on them, then, uh, they don't pertain to the crime, if I got what you said right. Why would anyone want to change her into clean pj's before obsconding with her leaving the evidence of blood behind? This doesn't make sense to me.
About the blood in the motorhome; it must not have been alot of blood, say, the amount that you'd expect if she were punched in the mouth, and we don't know how long the blood had been there. It's very easy to plant a blood stain that small on clothing and on objects; let's remember that LEO's have the technology to find blood even if the area has been scrubbed down. Does anyone know whether this treatment was done in the MH, or are the blood spots which were found a result of this treatment? It's very possible that Danielle had been in the MH in the past since the door has been open in the past or she might have wandered over to the MH while DW was inside and she was friendly and curious and asked to see what a MH looked like inside and DW let her come in for a moment (I know I'd be curious at that age) and she touched things and left some blood from a small cut on her arm, leg, finger, whatever. (When I was her age there probably wasn't a place on my body without a band-aid.) DW may not have wanted to mention such a short visit for fear that that would be all it takes for the police or jury to convict. Besides, it appears the kids weren't supervised very well and we really don't know whether she'd been in the MH at any time. I know this is a slim chance.
Now, if you were to ask me who I think may have had the opportunity and motive to do such a thing, I'd say the father. He had the most to lose if Danielle talked, if he'd been monkeying around with her as well. We don't know the kind of relationship he had with her and we don't know what his sexual mores are at this time. I think we need to remember that children her age often threaten to "tell on someone" and might have the tendency to taunt a little, like "if I can't go to King's Dominion, I'm going to tellll XXX what you do (to me?). She seems like a very curious, mischevious, spunky kid who might say something like this but I don't believe she'd say "I'm telling Mommy! I'm telling Mommy!" because she's partially aware of what's right and wrong and maybe Mom has said "don't say anything to anyone." If that's not the case, then she might have gotten up late that night and spied on them all and we know the rest. From the get-go the parents behaved in an inappropriate manner for having just had their kid abducted. The father always had the half-smile-look and his taunting in court could be a ruse to convince others how "upset" he is with DW so others won't take a long look at him. Why didn't we see some of this emotion the first days we saw them on TV?
Like I said, something smells.
The blood stain in the MH on the carpet by the dresser and closet was 1/4" in diameter....certainly not a blood bath.
The jacket shoulder was 1 3/16"...again, not a blood bath...pic looks like you would expect from a swipe with a bloody nose or cut.
Nothing so far....they have unidentified prints but DW was excluded on everything tested.
2. What about the underwear of Danielle stuffed in a drawer I thought we would hear so much about? Anything?
They were actually on floor..crotch staining...the pj cuff (left) and purple shirt cuff (left) had her blood...the bean bag blood was Dereks...unknown contributor of DNA on her blanket.
We know nothing new about DVD's wereabouts.
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