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Posted on 03/06/2002 6:27:23 PM PST by FresnoDA
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Lawyers for David Westerfield filed papers in court Tuesday saying that the detectives attempted to talk with Westerfield last Wednesday, the day after he was charged with kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. The lawyers called the action “outrageous government misconduct,” and wrote that it jeopardized Westerfield’s right to effective counsel.
Defense experts say the law is clear: once a suspect has a lawyer, police and prosecutors should not attempt to talk with the defendant without getting permission from the lawyer. Some say the incident could harm the case against Westerfield.
"It sends a lot of messages, in addition to laying the groundwork for potentially asking the court to dismiss the charges because of this outrageous governmental conduct," criminal defense specialist Kerry Steigerwalt said.
Wednesday, Police Captain Ron Newman told NBC 7/39 that two detectives did request to speak with Westerfield, but he apparently refused to talk with them and called his lawyer to report the attempted interview.
"I have confirmed that that did happen,” Capt. Newman told NBC 7/39. “I question the appropriateness of it. I'm sure the detectives felt that it was the appropriate thing to do, given the set of circumstances that they were under. But we will be handling that internally. So it's not something that we would normally do. In fact, we should not be doing it, frankly.”
Another legal expert told NBC 7/39 that if police did not actually talk with Westerfield that day, there's little damage to the case against him.
sw
My daughter said the same thing. As crazy as this case is, I suppose any number of things could be revealed. It's probably very unlikely though.
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With 100 percent of the precincts counted from Tuesday’s primary, Pfingst leads his two closest rivals with 41 percent of the vote. That gives him an 18 percent lead over Judge Bonnie Dumanis, who holds a small lead over third-place challenger Mike Aguirre.
With less than 50 percent of the vote, Pfingst will not be able to avoid a runoff. He will go into November knowing that about 60 percent of the voters preferred one of his three rivals.
Pfingst professed to be happy to be in first place, even with the prospect of a showdown eight months from now. He said voters responded to his record in office.
"So far the voters have said ... this is the type of DA's office we want," Pfingst said last night.
But Dumanis said the numbers don't bode well for Pfingst.
"I'm excited," Dumanis said last night. "It's too early to tell. It's going to be a runoff. For an incumbent not to take it right now is a death knell in the general election."
The results are unofficial, as thousands of absentee ballots turned in at the polls yesterday have yet to be counted. Provisional ballots, in which a voter's registration is in question, and write-ins also are uncounted.
The Registrar of Voters office expects the first add-on count to be conducted on Thursday afternoon.
However, I believe that in child murder and child rape cases detectives are under enormous pressure to make an arrest.
Well well well, imagine that.. no cause of death....no sexual assault.....no child pornography on computer yet charged....oh what a tangled web we weave......
Stories of ethical lapses and a morale decline taint the administration of Paul Pfingst. Some believe San Diego’s district attorney looked the other way when a few of his prosecutors didn’t play by the rules.
By Ron Donoho
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| Paul Pfingst |
The murder cases—of SDPD Officer Jerry Hartless in 1988 and Ocean Beach resident Dusty Harless in ’96—share a commonality beyond the close spelling of the victims’ last names. The prosecutor in each case was subsequently handpicked to become upper management in the administration of San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst.
Since Pfingst took office in ’94, there has been a 50 percent reduction in crime, child-support payment has increased 300 percent, and the welfare rolls have been cut in half, he says.
Does Pfingst deserve credit for these numbers? Yes, at least some. But word in the legal community—from deputy D.A.s to defense attorneys to judges—is that a cloud hangs over the Pfingst administration. Running unopposed, he was elected to a second term in 1998. But he’s losing allies and political clout at an alarming rate.
Why? Critics say he sends mixed messages, favors some deputies over others and often cares more about politics than prosecutions. Pfingst has fired two members of his gangs unit—a deputy and an investigator—for lying. “If you lie, you die,” says Pfingst, who granted an exclusive interview to San Diego Magazine. “It’s that simple. Integrity is the critical component. I tell every new hire what they say or do must be treated like gold, taken to a bank and put in a vault. Anything less is unacceptable. If you lie, you will be fired.”
Pfingst did not, however, fire two administrators whose widely debated actions culminated in the August prison purge. Keith Burt, who tried four gang members in the Hartless case and was once the number-three ranking member of Pfingst’s team, did take a voluntary demotion. Burt is currently the subject of an investigation that could lead to his being disbarred.
Peter Longanbach tried the Harless murder case. After he won a conviction of SDSU student David Genzler, Longanbach was promoted by Pfingst to head the D.A.’s economic fraud division. Longanbach resigned earlier this year. He is at the center of two investigations by the state attorney general: for prosecutorial misconduct in the courtroom, and for running a real estate business—at taxpayer expense—out of the D.A.’s office.
Further flattening the local wheels of justice are a pair of recent gender-discrimination lawsuits filed by two female deputy D.A.s. A $250,000 decision in favor of one of the women is now on appeal. That case, involving prosecutor Laura Akers, curiously dovetails into the Keith Burt saga. (More on that later.)
Complaints about a district attorney’s office—past, present, here or elsewhere—are not altogether uncommon. In San Diego, about 300 lawyers—each holding the title of deputy district attorney—prosecute individuals accused of heinous criminal activity. Rare is the convicted drug dealer, batterer, rapist or murderer who has something flattering to say about a D.A.
It would be one thing if inmates and their attorneys were doing all the griping. But a large number of complaints are coming from within the D.A.’s office. More than a dozen deputy D.A.s—most of whom say their jobs would be risked if they spoke for attribution—say office morale is at an all-time low.
Terri Perez, a part-time deputy D.A. in the downtown gangs prosecution unit, is one office member who has not felt a sinking of morale. “I hear about morale being low, and I get e-mails, but I don’t see it,” she says. “I think there is a vocal group of individuals that are mostly older. I don’t think the younger deputies are as involved with the morale issue.”
Others say younger deputies are dismayed they aren’t being promoted quickly enough. Depending on whom you ask, that’s either because there’s an oversupply of older, higher-ranking deputies or it’s due to quotas on how many in the office could hold the highest pay ranks.
One deputy who falls in the middle of the age spectrum says, “Anyone who thinks morale is good is either out of touch or covering for the administration. I’d like to know what parallel universe they’re living in.” This deputy reports that peers—young and old—are “embarrassed to admit where they work. At parties, they introduce themselves as lawyers, not as deputy D.A.s.”
According to a veteran deputy, “The universal opinion in the office is that Paul Pfingst has covered up for people because they are his ‘darlings.’” Another deputy says there is a feeling in the office that anyone who criticizes the administration will be ostracized. “You don’t complain, or bad things will happen to you,” the deputy says. “You get reassigned or you get transferred.”
Pfingst specifically denies shielding Longanbach and Burt because of personal friendships. Referring to Longanbach, Pfingst says, “I’ve never been to his house, and I wouldn’t be able to recognize his wife. And regardless of a rumor to the contrary, my wife has never met Peter Longanbach and has no financial relationship with him. It would be hard to find somebody I socialize with less than Peter... I have been to social events with Keith, and I know his wife, Brenda. Keith and I have been to lunch. But we’re not drinking buddies. And I couldn’t tell you who he supported in the [1994] election.”
On complaints of low morale within the office, Pfingst says: “My sense is that the highest achievers have the highest morale, and your lowest achievers have the lowest morale. That’s true for most organizations. Generally, you design programs around your highest achievers. You just try and deal with your low achievers. If you give your high achievers the tools to work with, they can succeed and do a lot of great things.
“I work with some driven people. I work with some other people, too. That’s part of the deal. For every person who lets you down, you have 50 who exceed your expectations. For every naysayer and whiner, you have 100 who are coming to work every day to see how they can make a difference in this community.”
Still, many in the office say one key to a decline in morale was the unprecedented act of the state attorney general’s office serving a search warrant on the D.A.’s office—to obtain information in the Longanbach investigation.
No previous record could be found of the state attorney general ever serving a search warrant on a D.A.’s office. But Pfingst says the February 2000 search was not out of the ordinary. “People who don’t know this area would think it’s an extraordinary event,” he says. “It’s not. The search warrant is a traditional device they use when searching a lawyer’s office.”
One member of Pfingst’s upper administration did take offense at being served a search warrant. “A number of people have expressed the sentiment that the office is demoralized,” says Dan Berglund, chief of the D.A.’s office of investigations. “Especially because of the search warrant. We’re in law enforcement—we’re not used to being on the other side of the door.
“I disagree that the search warrant had to be done in the manner it took place. Nobody here would have destroyed records or case files. It was distasteful because [the state attorney general’s office] had teams on each floor, beating on doors. It made you wonder what their opinion of our office is... They seem to lack trust in our office.”
Gary Schons, head of the San Diego office for the state attorney general, says a search warrant was a necessary step given the circumstances, but was nonetheless “distasteful” and was “a grave decision.”
When Peter Longanbach resigned his position as chief of the economic fraud division in the D.A.’s office, a press release was issued. Dated March 3, 2000, it quotes Longanbach as saying, “It is with mixed emotions that I leave this fine office, and many friends who work so hard to protect the people of this county...”
The press release goes on to say, “Longanbach has decided to retire in order to spare his office, colleagues, family and friends further disruption and turmoil caused by allegations made against him earlier this year, allegations he adamantly denied.”
Other than Pfingst, Longanbach has had few supporters.
The state attorney general’s office is looking into allegations that Longanbach coached a witness to lie. That witness in the ’96 killing of Dusty Harless, Sky Flanders, who was Harless’ fiancée, later testified that Longanbach advised her to commit perjury. Flanders’ testimony was crucial in putting David Genzler behind bars.
Rebecca Harutunian was the deputy D.A. originally assigned to retry the Genzler case. Harutunian later testified that Flanders and a D.A. investigator told her Longanbach coached Flanders to withhold information. Harutunian also testified that she met with resistance from superiors when she began the legal process of bringing this information to light.
An appellate court recently disagreed with the second-degree murder conviction in Genzler’s first trial. He received a lower sentence of involuntary manslaughter in August. With time served, it’s expected Genzler—who’s been out of jail since July 1999—will not be put back behind bars.
I translate your statement to mean: If you or I were this little girl's father we would have stayed home with the kids rather than leave the kids home alone. If you or I were this little girl's father we wouldn't have partied in the garage until 3 a.m.. If you or I were this little girl's father we would have investigated the open doors and alarm signal. If you or I were this little girl's father we would have checked on her before going to bed. If you or I were this little girl's father, we surely wouldn't have been so NEGLIGENT as Danielle's father was that night.
SAN DIEGO ---- Signs of a "civil war" within the district attorney's office emerged Wednesday as a group of employees staged a show of support for District Attorney Paul Pfingst, while the Deputy District Attorneys Association announced most of its members lack confidence in Pfingst's leadership.
In an unprecedented move, the association distributed ballots last week to its 299 members asking for a vote of no-confidence in Pfingst.
Of the 257 valid ballots cast and counted between Thursday and Tuesday, 68 percent indicated that they had no confidence in Pfingst, leaders of the deputy district attorneys union said Wednesday.
"We need to have a leader who is ethical, honest and has integrity," Deputy District Attorney Richard Monroy, the association's acting president, told reporters. "They (prosecutors) have expressed they don't have confidence in Paul Pfingst. Two-thirds no longer feel Paul Pfingst has those qualities."
Monroy's comments came during interviews after a group of prosecutors, clerical staff and investigators from the district attorney's office held a news conference declaring their support for Pfingst, who is expected to seek re-election next year to a third term as district attorney.
Pfingst did not attend the news conference and declined through his spokeswoman to comment Wednesday.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Pettine, who is on a leave of absence from serving as the president of the Deputy District Attorneys Association, Superior Court Judge Bonnie Dumanis, and Michael Aguirre, a prominent San Diego attorney in private practice, are expected to challenge Pfingst in the March primary election.
More than 60 prosecutors have endorsed Pettine, and Dumanis has garnered endorsements from unions representing police officers in San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon, San Diego schools, and the Harbor Police. The District Attorneys Investigators Association, the National Latino Police Officers Association, the Escondido Police Officers Association and about 26 prosecutors are backing Pfingst.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will face each other in a November runoff election.
"Unfortunately, the way politics go, we're going to have a nasty race," Deputy District Attorney Garland Peed told reporters at the Pfingst-supporters' news conference. "We're going to have a civil war within the district attorney's office. ... All of us assembled here think we have the finest DA we could have. We think he's a fine individual of integrity and beyond reproach."
Deputy District Attorney James Waters, a former president of the Deputy District Attorneys Association, cited the creation of several specialized units to handle crimes like elder abuse and hate crimes, a 44 percent reduction in crime countywide, and a 92 percent conviction rate as reasons for his support of Pfingst.
The 92 percent conviction rate is based on figures from the Judicial Council of California that do not specify whether a conviction occurred at trial or whether it was the result of a guilty plea.
"I, like many of my colleagues in the district attorney's office, support Paul Pfingst for district attorney, principally because he has delivered," Waters said. "I do so without reservation and without hesitation."
In a news release announcing the no-confidence vote results, association leaders cited lawsuits against Pfingst and the district attorney's office under his leadership, the indictment of the man Pfingst promoted to supervise the office's economic fraud unit and "scandals" that resulted in overturned murder convictions as examples of "mounting failures" of the Pfingst administration.
In one of those cases, allegations of prosecutorial misconduct stemmed from a trial that occurred before Pfingst was elected in 1994. However, Pfingst's opponents have cited a Superior Court judge's ruling in that case that criticized Pfingst's handling of the investigation of the alleged misconduct.
Contact staff writer Scott Marshall at (760) 631-6623 or smarshall@nctimes.com.
11/8/01
sw
Yes, that jumped out at me too.
I realize that this is the defense speaking, but we all witnessed the nearly immediate fingering of DW and the equally rapid elimination of the parents. Hmmmmmmm.
Furthermore, it seems that it is the van Dams whose stories keep changing and appear to have lied about a number of things.
Other than the polygraph report BY PAUL PFINGST, what evidence have we seen of DW lying?
sw
"I, like many of my colleagues in the district attorney's office, support Paul Pfingst for district attorney, principally because he has delivered," Waters said.If so, Pfingst would not be the first DA to make his career over by railroading verdicts against innocents regardless of facts. Why there are some such in high office. Seems to me that to a certain class of "elites" it's almost a requirement to have done so to get their backing. They say it shows the old "fire in the belly" kind of ruthlessness needed to be a big political player.[Opponents claiming Pfingst's engages in prosecutorial misconduct to "deliver"] cited a Superior Court judge's ruling that criticized Pfingst's handling of an investigation of an alleged misconduct.
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