PROSECUTORS TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY IN WESTERFIELD CASE

Union Tribune/KFMB ^ | April 25, 2002 | Harry Jones

[FresnoDA]

Westerfield hearing could be focused on death penalty

By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 25, 2002

A San Diego Superior Court hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. today for David Westerfield, the Sabre Springs man accused of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

The attorneys involved in the case are prohibited from discussing it because of a gag order, but it is possible that prosecutors will announce whether they will seek the death penalty against the self-employed engineer.

His attorneys have insisted on Westerfield's right to a speedy trial, which is scheduled to begin May 17. He is being held in County Jail without bail.

After Westerfield's arrest Feb. 22, prosecutors filed special allegations in the case, accusing him of committing murder during a kidnapping, which gives them the option of seeking his execution if convicted.

District Attorney Paul Pfingst has a protocol on reaching a decision that usually takes several months; the case is reviewed by a panel of senior prosecutors. Defense attorneys also have the option of meeting with Pfingst.

It has been just over two months since the charges against Westerfield were brought, and because of the gag order it has not been possible to determine whether the panel made a recommendation or if Westerfield's attorneys met with Pfingst.

The district attorney makes the final decision. If he chooses not to seek the death penalty, Westerfield would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Danielle's family lived two doors from Westerfield. Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2, and police quickly focused on Westerfield as the prime suspect.

Prosecutors said DNA testing proved that blood found on some of Westerfield's clothing and in his motor home was Danielle's.

Volunteer searchers found the girl's body Feb. 27 east of El Cajon in a stand of oak trees just off Dehesa Road. The cause of death has not been determined because of decomposition of the body, officials said.

[UCANSEE2]

I'd say you've got one heck of a quick temper there, kiddo. Pick your fights carefully on this thread. Kimmie ain't worth it.

The Bill Clinton ploy.

[UCANSEE2]

Everyone (except you) seems to agree the stains were something else.

I will be looking for where the testimony of the experts states this to be a fact.

Your quote of the testimony, page 384 line 24, is that from the source you stated a few posts back, or the ones FresnoDA listed ?

[MizSterious]

" As far as the DNA testing of the stain in her underwear proving to be specifically Damon's, the testimony does not state that."

Please read what we're saying before firing off a retort. No one--except you--has stated that the DNA was from Damon. I'm sorry if you're having difficulty with this subject. Here on Free Republic, most of us have advanced to the point of reading books without pictures in them, and just assumed you'd keep up.

[spectre]

"The Bill Clinton ploy"

You should know all about that.

sw

[FresnoDA]

Usually, the great thing about FR is the sharing of information, the getting at of the real 'truth'. I do not trust those that claim to have the 'truth' but are unwilling to prove it. They are either being snobbish, hoarding it in hopes it gives them 15 minutes of fame, or they don't have the truth.

Look babs...I have had every insult under the sun posted, and have had a few freep mails that are unpostable, accusing me of being Rick Roberts, Feldman, friend of Westerfield (That is Danielle Westerfield to you!) or simply a pedophile myself....Luis G.....

But I have been on board with the VD threads from day one.  As for 15 minutes of fame, geez....we are anonymous posters on a user funded bulletin board.  If that is your idea of fame, you sites are quite low.

As MizSterious has nicely stated, and very courteously I might add, we HAVE NO INSIDE information...we simply are reading the news reports, listening to the live testimony, reading the transcripts, and using some 10cents a minute intuition.  All of this despite the fact that there is a GAG order on the entire case.

Every accusation of hyperbole has been thwarted....

STRONG SMELL of bleach.....

Damon and Brenda buying a NEW BMW, 45 days after a public trust fund had been set up....

Reports of Brenda and the girls going on a shopping spree at Nordstrom's, complete with Limo service.....

Brenda asking Larry King about who handled the Ramsey's book deal....

These are just a few of the early FR  reports about this case, that the VD apologist screamed bogus about, only to have them validated afterwards.....

So...take you shots all you want, but ask yourself these questions....

Would you let Brenda and The Demon baby-sit you children?  Would you let them house sit your home while you were away on vacation....?

HHHMMMMMM......

[spectre]

The troubling part of the underwear being introduced at the PH, was the presumption there was evidence linking David Westerfield to the "stain" waiting to be exposed at the real trial.

Why else bring it up?

sw

[UCANSEE2]

Now you are doing it....(If you can't provide proper argument, belittle your opponent.) I thought you better than this. I was wrong.

Let me restate it this way. They did not find David Westerfield's DNA, from the testimony so far, on her underwear. Is this correct ?.

The YELLOWISH stain matched DNA from the two blood samples and the swabs from Brenda and Damon. The blood samples (carpet/jacket) and the underwear could be/most likely were biological offspring. Is this correct?

I went to the source you specified and could not find reference to anything but a yellowish stain that they took samples from for DNA testing.

You said URINE does not contain DNA.

So, If a little girl had a pair of recently worn underwear, with yellowish stains (and I'll stipulate that the yellow stain is urine), and a specialist with the police department were to take a swab of the area, are you willing to state that they could not obtain any DNA evidence from that swab ?

[FresnoDA]

Testimony: DNA, fingerprints from motor home link Westerfield to Danielle

Thousands of computer porn images, videos reported found

By Jeffrey J. Rose
SIGNONSANDIEGO

March 12, 2002

SAN DIEGO – DNA from bloodstains on David Westerfield's jacket and inside his motor home matched that taken from underwear belonging to Danielle van Dam, and fingerprints taken from the vehicle matched those of the dead 7-year-old girl, police specialists testified Tuesday.

The testimony came at a preliminary hearing for Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed engineer who lived two doors away from the van Dams in Sabre Springs. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and possessing child pornography in connection with Danielle's death.

Jeffrey B. Graham, a fingerprint analyst for the San Diego Police Department, said fingerprints taken from a cabinet next to the bed in Westerfield's motor home matched Danielle's.

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Danielle made those prints," Graham said.

Investigators believe Danielle was abducted from her bedroom the night of Feb. 1 and taken over the weekend to the Silver Strand near Coronado by Westerfield in his motor home, who then drove to the desert and back to the beach again. If convicted, Westerfield could face the death penalty.

Her naked, severely decomposed body was found off Dehesa Road by a volunteer search team on Feb. 27.

Graham said he obtained full handprints from the hands of Danielle's body, which though mummified when found were rehydrated with embalming fluid following an autopsy Feb. 28. Fingerprints taken from the motor home matched those prints, Graham said.

Annette Peer, a police DNA analyst, said DNA from a bloodstain taken from the carpet in the motor home and more taken from a bloodstain on a jacket Westerfield left at a dry cleaner Feb. 4 matched that of a yellowish stain on underwear taken from Danielle's bedroom.

Peer further testified that the DNA was consistent with DNA from offspring of Brenda and Damon van Dam, who both gave "reference" samples for testing.

In other testimony Tuesday:

 A police computer specialist testified that some 64,000 pornographic images and 2,200 MPEG-format videos were found on computers and computer disks taken from Westerfield's home.

Detective James M. Watkins, a computer forensic examiner for San Diego police, said some of the sexually explicit images portrayed bestiality, bondage and what appeared to be underage females. Watkins estimated the number of pornographic images involving minors at fewer than 100.

Watkins said he also had discovered eight photos of a girlfriend of Westerfield's and her young teen-age daughter, with some of the photos of the daughter in sexually suggestive poses.

Under questioning by Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, Watkins said he could not determine whether Westerfield had obtained or viewed the pornographic images or whether it was someone else who had access to the computer, including Westerfield's 18-year-old son.

 Police Detective James Hergenroeather said he spoke with Julie Mills, an employee at Twin Peaks Cleaners on Pomerado Road in Poway, where Westerfield reportedly took several items to be cleaned the morning of Feb. 4, including two comforters, comforter covers and a zip-up jacket.

Hergenroeather said Mills told him that she had known Westerfield for several years as a customer, and that he seemed unusually upset that morning.

 Police forensic specialist Karen LeAlcala said she had gathered evidence in the case, including fingerprints from the motor home, which was impounded by police, and items taken with a search warrant from the cleaners.

Feldman peppered LeAlcala with questions on how the fingerprints were gathered, who had access to the motor home, what steps were taken to avoid contaminating the evidence, and on her experience level and education – all in an apparent quest to call into question the believability of the evidence.

LeAlcala said one of the items taken from the cleaners was the jacket. The jacket later was found to have the bloodstain matched in DNA testing by Peer.

The hearing, which began Monday, is the first opportunity in court for prosecutors to document their evidence against Westerfield. The hearing is scheduled to resume Thursday.

[spectre]

Miz, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that IF the prosecution was so sure the stain was from Danielle's urine, they would have NEVER introduced it in the PH...unless they were blowing smoke trying to intimidate the Defense.

sw

[spectre]

OK, FRES...I'm confused here. According to the article, Westerfields DNA matched the stain in the underwear....HOWEVER, according to the trial transcripts it didn't.

Which part of what I just said is not correct? Help me out here.

sw

[spectre]

Strike that last post! It seems that the DNA from the stain ONLY matched the DNA from the drops of blood...NOT Westerfield. Geeze, I am confused :~)

sw

[UCANSEE2]

If it was SEMEN or signs from ABUSE, then Damon has a problem, cause the DNA matched DAMON VAN DAM, and BRENDA VAN DAM.

Did not want to cause confusion, as I meant that the DNA sample from the underwear did match DVD and BVD or a biological match from them.

I did not say it was from semen or abuse, I was saying that IF SOMEONE ELSE or THE TESTIMONY stated it was SEMEN or from ABUSE, then it sure wasn't from Westerfield. Go back and read my post on this if you are confused as to what I said.

[UCANSEE2]

Everyone (except you) seems to agree the stains were something else.

Show me in the testimony of the pre-lim's it says this.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

I have been out of the VD FR loop for awhile so this may be a rehashed topic, but............

I find it extremely odd that neither Brenda nor Damon ever showed any anger at or about Westerfield. I can't imagine any parents, who thought their daughter's murderer was indeed identified, not acting with rage and fury.

[spectre]

There wasn't any rage or fury from day one. People are saying they are entitled to react to their state of shock and grief in their own way, and that not everyone reacts the same way.

I agree...buying new clothes and BMW's always helps chase away the blahs, LOL!

sw

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

I agree...buying new clothes and BMW's always helps chase away the blahs

Yep.....life is a lot brighter when wearing rich threads and sitting behind the wheel of a beautiful automobile.

David who??????

[UCANSEE2]

Everyone (except you) seems to agree the stains were something else.

Show me in the testimony of the pre-lim's it says this. (sorry, I posted to myself, and meant you).

[UCANSEE2]

Everyone (except you) seems to agree the stains were something else.

Show me in the testimony of the pre-lim's it says this. (sorry, I posted to myself, and meant you).

[UCANSEE2]

The DNA from the blood samples from the CARPET sample, and the JACKET sample, and the UNDERWEAR samples were consistent with Brenda Van Dams and/or Damon Van Dams or a biological offspring of theirs.

Now if What I have stated is not in following with the PH testimony, show me exactly where I am incorrect.

[UCANSEE2]

Noted that you want me to refer to the EXACT TESTIMONY and you post a week old press article, which actually contains some non or mis-information.