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Westerfield Defense Begins Presenting Its Case: (Dusek stumbles to the finish line) July 3, 2002
KFMB ^ | July 3, 2002 | KFMB

Posted on 07/03/2002 6:41:25 AM PDT by FresnoDA

WAS IT ENOUGH???

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Westerfield Defense Begins Presenting Its Case

Defendants Neighbors Testify On RV And Children

 

POSTED: 12:06 p.m. PDT July 2, 2002Photo
UPDATED: 6:43 p.m. PDT July 2, 2002
SAN DIEGO -- The defense in the David Westerfield murder trial began presenting its case Tuesday. The defendant's neighbors testified Westerfield did not follow his typical routine with his motorhome the weekend 7-year-old Danielle van Dam disappeared.

Janet Roehr, who lives across the street from Westerfield in Sabre Springs, said Westerfield typically left the 35-foot motorhome at his house overnight before leaving for a trip.

He usually unloaded and cleaned it at home following a trip, she said, and normally had someone help him.

Roehr said she only saw the 1997 Southwind for a few minutes the afternoon after the girl was discovered to be missing from the neighborhood. She didn't see it again.

Her husband, Mark, testified he did not see the motorhome the day before.

The testimony likely did not help the defense case, which began directly after the midday lunch break. Three witnesses took the stand in the morning before the prosecution rested.

Janet Roehr said she saw the youngest child of Brenda and Damon van Dam chase a ball across the street just two weeks ago.

"Did you see the parents anywhere?" defense attorney Robert Boyce asked.

"No, I didn't," Roehr answered. She said that she had to leave her house and help the boy back across the street.

The van Dams testified earlier in the trial that they kept their children under tight rein, able to play alone along the sidewalk near their house but never across the street.

The defense has portrayed Sabre Springs as a family neighborhood filled with children.

Under cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek, both Roehrs said they never saw young children in the defendant's motorhome.

Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed design engineer, could be sentenced to death if convicted of kidnapping and murdering the second-grader, who lived down the street from his home.

He also faces misdemeanor possession of child pornography charges.

Westerfield's next-door neighbor, Paul Hung, testified that he saw the defendant's motorhome parked near Westerfield's home about 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, the day Danielle turned up missing.

"I saw the motorhome parked on the side (of the house)," Hung said. "No, I didn't see David that morning."

Hung testified that a half-hour later, the motorhome was gone.

That night, Westerfield was not around as searchers combed the area around the van Dam home, Hung testified.

Detective Johnny Keene was recalled to the stand and told Dusek that Westerfield was questioned the morning of Feb. 4 and again that afternoon and night.

In between, the defendant was free to do what he wanted, Keene testified.

Defense attorneys have alleged that Westerfield -- even though he wasn't under arrest -- couldn't leave and hadn't eaten when he spoke to authorities.

The final prosecution witness, Dr. Joy Halverson, of Quest-Gen Forensics in Davis, testified that the mitochondrial DNA found in four of five hair samples could have come from Layla, the van Dam family's dog.

Halverson said she found a complete match in two samples. She also said she found nothing to exclude the canine as a source for the hair.

Two samples with the full match came from Westerfield's motorhome, according to a chart prepared by the prosecution. One was in the hallway carpet, the other on a bathmat.

The evidence gave the prosecution another link between Westerfield and the slain youngster, who was found dead east of El Cajon on Feb. 27.

Last week, another DNA expert, Holly Ernst of UC Davis, said she was unable to get results from the samples that she could reproduce.

Halverson, though, said Layla's DNA sequence was found in 23 of 267 dogs in her database, or one in nearly 12.

Those numbers, though, are where she ran into trouble in cross-examination by defense attorney Steven Feldman.

Halverson admitted a mathematical error when she narrowed the field in her database from 358 dogs to 267. She said she filed an amended report. The chart shown to jurors gave a third set of numbers.

"Is it good science to make a mathematical error three times in the same data set?" Feldman asked.

Halverson called it human error.

Earlier, a volunteer dog handler testified that he sent an e-mail saying he "was bursting with pride" on the day Westerfield was arrested in connection with Danielle's disappearance.

Jim Frazee, who volunteers with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, sent the e-mail to three friends on Feb. 22 -- 16 days after his dogs examined Westerfield's motorhome at an impound lot on Aero Drive.

Frazee testified last week that one of the dogs, Cielo, gave an alert signal at the door to an exterior storage compartment on the passenger side of the vehicle while searching for the child's remains.

Under cross-examination by Boyce today, Frazee said he did not mention the alert in a report he filed because police investigators asked for the results to remain confidential.  Jim Frazee

"On Feb. 6, you don't recall telling anyone what the dog found?" Boyce asked.

"I don't recall what I told them," Frazee said.

The defense concentrated on the fact that, with no other report filed, the only evidence of Cielo's alert came from the e-mail after the defendant's arrest.

Boyce quoted Frazee's e-mail, which he said stated: "I wasn't sure, but I thought Cielo was giving his cadaver alert. I thought he may have been doing this just to please me. Today, however, came word of the suspect's arrest and that they found blood in the motorhome."

Frazee said the arrest raised his confidence in Cielo's finding.

Frazee's supervisor, reserve sheriff's Lt. Rosemary Redditt, said she watched Cielo's search of the outside of the motorhome and had no trouble recognizing the dog's alert at the storage door.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 180frank; vandam; westerfield
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To: Rheo
Ok, don't know if this is from PH or an article,just my own notes but sounds like came from PH transcripts........Neighbor behind D.W. testified she saw D.W.'s son arriving on the 4th.of Feb.(Monday) He had a backpack with him and he was standing on the porch watching all of the activity. I didn't notice if there were police officers over there. (Mrs Hoeffs)
721 posted on 07/03/2002 7:23:49 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: dread78645
Kim, I'll ping ya next time i plan to go parting in Missouri. I'd like to meet some of your friends.

LOL I don't hang out with the single friends any more..quit that ages ago. :)

722 posted on 07/03/2002 7:59:07 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: BARLF
I just read that in the trial transcripts....no indication of time tho.
723 posted on 07/03/2002 8:47:17 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
Whew! I thought I would never catch up. No chance today to hang out on the forum.

Thank you again for the wonderful job you are doing with the transcribing! I can feel your shoulders aching. LOL

724 posted on 07/03/2002 9:53:58 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: BARLF
You know you still have another thread to go, right?

or have you been there already?

725 posted on 07/03/2002 9:56:41 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: BARLF
shezza has been great with the transcribing...makes it a lot easier to have someone fill in or take over.
726 posted on 07/03/2002 9:57:54 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: shezza
Thanks shezza for all your hard work on this thread. Don't know what we would do without you and Rheo. I refuse to watch CTV so I depend on you guys for all the good stuff. Aplaud! Aplaud! for shezza and Rheo!

Happy Forth of July everyone.

727 posted on 07/03/2002 9:59:08 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: Southflanknorthpawsis
I would say you could count the number on one hand of 15-year-old boys that haven't wanted to look at nude women.

Yes, pornography goes beyond just simple nudity, but to act like boys are any different from the days of swiping their dad's Playboy is to be woefully naive.

You're absolutely right about 15 year old boys. Studies show that many of them are just as bad as 15 year old girls.

It's a jungle out there!!

728 posted on 07/05/2002 6:46:35 PM PDT by ned
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