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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
even if something is marked as a txt file..Encase will disclose if it is a pic with a txt extention
81 posted on 07/03/2002 9:46:56 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
Oh NOOOOO...not the "naked woman on the side motorcycle"....????

Wonder if that's the same picture that keeps showing up in our unrequested e-mail? I'll go ask hubbie...:~)

sw

82 posted on 07/03/2002 9:46:57 AM PDT by spectre
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To: Rheo
the naked motorcycle pic was created and deleted. 9/2/01
83 posted on 07/03/2002 9:47:23 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
Feldman skips around so much!!

Good for confusion..

84 posted on 07/03/2002 9:47:24 AM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: Rheo
Encase allows for recovery of deleted files

I talked to a friend of mine two years ago who said this software can recover data that has been written over at least seven times.

I suspect Feldman's expert is going to cause a great deal of embarassment for the prosecution. Wonder how many times LE personnel viewed the porn and showed it to others while 'searching' the files? This could get fun.

85 posted on 07/03/2002 9:47:37 AM PDT by connectthedots
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To: Rheo
#9 from Gateway...naked woman..more graphic..legs apart..would consider more pornographic..more sexual..
86 posted on 07/03/2002 9:48:17 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
YOu're doing great! LMK when you want me to give you a break.
87 posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:06 AM PDT by shezza
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To: Rheo
recovered anime file...cartoon created animated images by hand and by computer created...very popular...most anime is oriental related.
88 posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:30 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: connectthedots
I talked to a friend of mine two years ago who said this software can recover data that has been written over at least seven times.

That's incredible..

89 posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:37 AM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: connectthedots
For those who claim that an innocent accused should run to the stand to testify, why would an innocent person who has not even been accused of a crime need to lawyer-up? If Feldman can get this fact in front of the jury, DW is home free. It may be that these witnesses lawyered-up because of false statements they made to the police and are worried about perjury/false statements unrelated to the actual cause of Danielle's death (i.e. wanted to hide their sexual activities).

All Feldman has to do to get this in front of the jury, is call Barb, ask her any kind of incriminating question, and force her to assert her right. If she has a lawyer, he will probably accompany her to the witness chair.

90 posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:39 AM PDT by Donzerly lights
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To: shezza
I get to type dirty!!!
91 posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:57 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
screen prints 10-36....depict anime....
92 posted on 07/03/2002 9:50:28 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
Be sure to wash your hands with soap when you're through.
93 posted on 07/03/2002 9:50:46 AM PDT by shezza
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To: Rheo
DW is trembling like he was yesterday too...
94 posted on 07/03/2002 9:50:47 AM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: Rheo
LOL! Do you think Neal needs a lawyer?
95 posted on 07/03/2002 9:51:04 AM PDT by Jrabbit
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To: Rheo
#10 is woman masturbation...#11 sex is becoming more graphic..and so on throughout the prints to 36
96 posted on 07/03/2002 9:51:08 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
theme of screen prints involve bondage
97 posted on 07/03/2002 9:51:39 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
this theme is common for anime...often involves bondage scenerios
98 posted on 07/03/2002 9:52:08 AM PDT by Rheo
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To: Rheo
I would NOT want to have his job!
99 posted on 07/03/2002 9:52:13 AM PDT by shezza
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To: shezza
Prolly, it was homework. SO the bondage stuff was Neal's? Ruh-Roh is right!! Prolly research.
100 posted on 07/03/2002 9:52:16 AM PDT by Jaded
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