Posted on 03/28/2002 7:54:29 AM PST by FresnoDA
DAVID WESTERFIELD TO FACE JUDGE AGAIN
( 03-28-2002 ) - A Sabre Springs man accused of killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam and leaving her body in the East County is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography.
Along with entering a plea, David A. Westerfield, 50, may get a trial date at the hearing and find out if prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against him if he's convicted.
Most likely, the judge will set a trial date within a 60 day timeframe. Otherwise, Westerfield's right to a speedy trial will be violated.
Attorney Bill Nimmo says it's probable that Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, will waive this right.
If that happens, it could be six months to a year before the Westerfield's case goes to trial.
There could also be a possible plea bargain by the self employed design engineer to avoid a possible death penalty charge.
"The way I read the state's evidence, it's very powerful. And rarely do they bargain unless they have problems with their evidence. If they had some problems with their evidence, like there was a faulty DNA test, or if one of the witnesses had actually more contact with Westerfield... watering down the presence of the DNA... and that brought a fear in the prosecution that they could lose this case, then they might try to plea bargain," explained Nimmo.
After a three-day preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz ruled back on March 14 that there was enough evidence for Westerfield to face the charges at trial.
Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh may assign the case to another judge for all further hearings, including the trial.
Westerfield -- who lived two doors down and across the street from the van Dam family -- is currently held without bail.
Thursday's arraignment set for 2 p.m. Stay tuned to LOCAL 8 for live coverage.
What neighbors knew it and said so where? There was no such testimony at the PH that I recall, nor have I read such in any media reports.
I have seen it speculated many times on the various VD threads that perhaps it was unlocked and thats how the prints could have gotten there. That is not enough explanation IMHO.
The defense is going to have to explain away those prints very clearly, because it is known that he stored it elsewhere and that it was not commonly parked at his home except when he was preparing for or returning from a trip. Not times adults usually allow children to romp through their RV.
The number calling good evil and evil good are numberless even here on FR
IF he says "guilty", he's a dead man walking even if he gets "life" without parole.
I would hope, if he cops a plea, that he would have to "confess" to exactly how he committed the crime, and then we would have no doubt he really did do it, if that makes any sense.
sw
Really? I hadn't heard that. Who says so? Doing so seems quite counter to what appears to be his anal-retentive personality.
sw
In the motor home, they found her blood and her fingerprints. Damning evidence fer sure.
We were referring to the article Val posted about pedophiles pornography collections, such as pictures of kids in underwear from catalogues.. You are so ready to jump aren't ya.
I have wondered if they won't ask for the death penalty because they have no evidence (that we know of, yet) of sexual assault or actual cause of death because of the ravaged condition of her body.
A lot hinges on that "pornography collection" that turned out to be "less than 100 questionable images". See my post #21 about the nature of pedophile "collections". The DA entered that into evidence as proof of motive. Lacking forensic evidence, are they going to use circumstantial evidence to prove the sexual nature of the crime? Ask yourself about the nature of the non-pornographic images? Will they demonstrate an obsession with children?
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