DA Selects 'A' Team For The Danielle van Dam Killing Case: Westerfield appears today for arraignment

Union Trib ^ | March 11, 2002 | Anne Krueger

[FresnoDA]

DA selects 'A' team for the Danielle killing case

Two have handled many high-profile prosecutions

By Anne Krueger
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

March 11, 2002

When District Attorney Paul Pfingst selected the team to prosecute the man accused of killing Danielle van Dam, he turned to two veterans who've been involved in numerous high-profile cases.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek, who will be marking 25 years in the San Diego County District Attorney's Office this month, has handled more death penalty cases than any other lawyer in the office.

George "Woody" Clarke, a San Diego prosecutor for 20 years, is a nationally recognized expert on DNA evidence, complicated scientific data now frequently used in criminal cases. His expertise has been recruited by Los Angeles prosecutors, who made him part of their team in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

In a case that has drawn national attention, the two men will face their first major legal test today when they appear in court to present evidence in a preliminary hearing for 50-year-old David Westerfield.

The design engineer, who lived two houses down the street from the van Dam family, is charged with kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle. She was reported missing by her parents Feb. 2 and her body was found more than three weeks later behind a clump of oak trees in Dehesa.

Westerfield is being represented by attorneys Steven Feldman and Robert Boyce, longtime defense lawyers who also carry a reputation for legal skills and tenaciousness in the San Diego legal community.

Dusek, 52, was once described in court papers as being part of an " 'A' team" of prosecutors and investigators who had been assigned to handle the retrial of six gang members in the killing of a San Diego police officer.

Dusek's boss, James Pippin, said he's confident Dusek and Clarke will handle their latest assignment well.

"We've got the 'A' team," Pippin said.

 

Team player

Even before he became a lawyer, Dusek was a team player. He spent two years as a pitcher for a Chicago White Sox minor league team before being released.

He then attended law school at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., before returning to Southern California. Having grown up in San Clemente, Dusek knew where he wanted to work.

He got a job at the San Diego District Attorney's Office, and he's spent his entire career there.

"I love this job. This is the best job in the world," Dusek said in a brief interview. "You get to prosecute people who have violated our laws, violated society's rules and violated other people. We get to hold them accountable for what they've done. That's a good feeling."

Despite his lengthy tenure in the office, Dusek has never aspired to be an administrator instead of a trial attorney, Pippin said.

"He's pretty much all business," Pippin said. "He just enjoys trying cases."

Dusek's cases have involved some of the most horrific crimes in San Diego County. Three men and one woman are now on California's death row awaiting execution as the result of cases he prosecuted.

In a fifth death penalty case, Phillip Lee Jackson was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 after jurors deadlocked over whether he should be executed for beating two elderly women to death.

Dusek prosecuted the case of Ramon Rogers, who was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murders of his Navy buddy and two ex-girlfriends. Police began investigating Rogers after they found the fingers and jaw of one of his former girlfriends in a storage area of his College Area apartment.

 

Opponent's view

Jeffrey Reichert, an alternate public defender who represented Rogers, said Dusek is an excellent lawyer.

"I would call him thoroughly efficient in almost every aspect of his practice. I can't remember any time when he was unprepared for any legal issue or factual question," Reichert said. "I thought he was ethical and aboveboard."

Just last week, Dusek was teaching a seminar on prosecuting death penalty cases at a meeting of the California District Attorneys Association. Prosecutors have filed special circumstances in Westerfield's case reserving the option of seeking his execution. That decision will be made in the weeks after the preliminary hearing.

It was Clarke's work on a death-penalty case in 1989 that led him to his expertise in using DNA as evidence in criminal cases. Clarke, 50, became interested in the field through his assignment as co-prosecutor in the murder trial of David Allen Lucas. (Feldman was a member of the defense team.) Lucas, a Spring Valley carpet cleaner was convicted of the murders of three people between 1979 and 1984 and is on death row.

Although DNA evidence couldn't be used in the Lucas case, Clarke grasped its power as a forensic tool at a time when the technique's legitimacy was being tested in the criminal courts.

Because of his ensuing reputation as a DNA expert, Clarke was asked to join the Simpson prosecution team in 1995. He said in an interview after Simpson was acquitted that the trial helped to advance the acceptance of DNA evidence.

"In my view, at least," Clarke said, "the DNA results in this case were so compelling that it may have been the reason the defense decided to shift tactics to one of conspiracy and the planting of evidence."

After the Simpson trial concluded, Los Angeles prosecutor Christopher Darden wrote a book about the case in which he condescendingly described Clarke as a typical prosecutor who wore off-the-rack suits and $59 Florsheim shoes.

"That always disappointed me," Clarke jokingly responded. "I only paid $49 for those shoes."

[Freedom2specul8]

Ok, I fixed it...I'm now in the correct time zone. (I never paid attention to the posting time before.. LOL)

[Freedom2specul8]

YOu are welcome! I can't wait to see rick roberts in action...he'll be fired up I'm sure...getting a national courttv audience.

[spectre]

You learn fast, grasshopper...LOL!

sw

[Valpal1]

Thanks for the pings. I will be on the road to the bank and title company at 10 a.m. wah!

When I get back, I hope to find this thread is still here, loaded with information and not flamed to cinders and pulled.

The articles on the prosecuting teams, very interesting that Clarke is also interested in clearing wrongly convicted persons using DNA. Speaks well of his integrity.

Looks to be a battle of Titans.

[Lanza]

Is Rick Roberts supposed to be on the tube? Will the proceedings today be on live national TV (like Fox News) or just locally in San Diego? I don't have Court TV (would certainly trade it for that hideous E! channel).

[Freedom2specul8]

LOL Thank you ol' wise one. :)

[Lanza]

Welcome back FD. Glad you are back to keep us informed.

[Freedom2specul8]

Dern, it's suppose to be on courttv...and it's doubtful that it'll be on fox. I'm looking to see if there's live feed on their website for you.

[FresnoDA]

PRELIMINARY HEARING MONDAY FOR WESTERFIELD

( 03-11-2002 ) - A preliminary hearing is set Monday morning for the man accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

David Westerfield gets his day in court Monday. And for the first time we could hear exactly what evidence the prosecution has against him.

Legal expert, and Defense Attorney Bill Nimmo says we'll see how the two sides plan on presenting their case. And we could see some of what the Van Dam's have to say.

"They may not want to call them to subject them to cross examination, but they may have to call them to establish this window of opportunity and why David Westerfield would even know that there was the ability to come in during that period of time," said Nimmo.

But Nimmo says we could be thrown for a loop. The defense could ask for a continuance in the case.

• NEW RICK ROBERTS ON COURT TV WITH GLORIA ALLRED

[Lanza]

I will have to get all the details here, and possibly a snippet on the Abrams Report on MSNBC later today. Hope the thread stays alive as Val mentioned, so we can get the latest developments.

[Amore]

Thanks for the info on the prosecutorial team. I feel a lot better that the case is in good hands [gee, I don't know what's making me paranoid about the handling of this case! :- ) . ]

[FresnoDA]

Westerfield To Make Court Appearance

Preliminary Hearing Expected To Last More Than One Day

Posted: 8:12 a.m. PST March 11, 2002
Updated: 8:24 a.m. PST March 11, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- A neighbor accused of abducting and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing Monday in San Diego Superior Court.

David Westerfield (pictured, right), a 50-year-old self-employed design engineer, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography in connection with the second-grader's disappearance and death.

Watch The Hearing Live On NewsChannel 15 @ 10 a.m.

The preliminary hearing is expected to last more than one day, at which time Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz will decide whether there is enough evidence to try Westerfield on the charges.

The victim's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, reported their daughter missing from their Sabre Springs home the morning of Feb. 2.

After weeks of searching, the girl's partially decomposed body was discovered Feb. 27 off a road in Dehesa.

Westerfield was arrested days earlier when police announced that lab tests had detected the child's blood on his clothing and in his recreational vehicle.

In addition, traces of DNA found on one of Danielle van Dam's garment in her room matched Westerfield's, police Chief David Bejarano said. He called the genetic evidence a "very, very strong link" between the defendant and the missing girl.

The chief offered little insight into what might have motivated Westerfield -- a divorced father of two -- to take Danielle van Dam from her home and family.

[Freedom2specul8]

Thanks for the heads up... Maybe RR will have the transcript on his website..for those of us who can't see it on court tv.

Gloria Allred? Oh boy, this just gets better!

[Lanza]

Thanks for the info. Do you think we will get any info today on the autopsy and how Danielle died?

[Republicus2001]

His expertise has been recruited by Los Angeles prosecutors, who made him part of their team in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

and didn't they do just a great job?

[Amore]

Here's what I said on another thread to Fresno:

Glad to see you back!, glad to be wrong in thinking you would be out for 3 days. It's especially nice for you to be back in light of the important hearing today. I wanted to point out for those at their office, MSNBC online appears to be carrying the hearing. They have it listed at 12:15 p.m. EST.

[Amore]

Oh, you really think anything the prosecutors did in the OJ trial would have made any difference? To answer my own question, no, it wouldn't have.

[FresnoDA]

Here's what I said on another thread to Fresno:

Glad to see you back!, glad to be wrong in thinking you would be out for 3 days. It's especially nice for you to be back in light of the important hearing today. I wanted to point out for those at their office, MSNBC online appears to be carrying the hearing. They have it listed at 12:15 p.m. EST.

You are both courteous, and correct Amore!!!

Greetings from Fresno(DA) !!!  Hard....to.......type right.....ah....now.......ugh.....PULLING MY FLAME PROOF SUIT ON!!!!

 

Mon 3/11

12:15 a.m. ET

Hearing for Van Dam killing suspect Preliminary hearing of David Westerfield, the man accused in the abduction and death of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

Click this icon, for live feed, starting at 9:15 A.M. Pacific Time........FDA

[Freedom2specul8]

Live MSNBC video

[tutstar]

? Will the gag order keep us from getting details as the hearing and trial progress? Exactly how does the gag order work?