Westerfield attorney's begin defense
Posted on 07/02/2002 6:10:56 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Westerfield attorney's begin defense
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July 2, 2002 A recovery dog behaved normally during an inspection of the motor home of murder defendant David Westerfield, a police investigator testified at the outset of the defendant's case this afternoon. Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday morning against the man accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, but the judge said there is an unspecified witness the prosecution may call before the trial ends. Attorneys for Westerfield began calling defense witnesses this afternoon. Dog's behavior recounted "The dog went around the motor home with Mr. Frazee in close attendance," the officer said. "The dog examined each of the lower equipment bays on the motor home, again with Mr. Frazee in close attendance and that is all I can recall of my observing." Frazee has previously testified that his dog "alerted" to the possible scent of a cadaver on the motor home. Under cross examination by prosector Jeff Dusek, the investigator testified that he had no formal training in dog handling. Neighbors testify No witnesses have recalled seeing the defendant do that on the weekend in Febuary that the victim, Danielle van Dam, disappeared. Westerfield parked his motor home around the corner from his home as television news crews invaded the neighborhood to report on the well-publized search for the child Feb. 2, and returned without it on Feb. 4, after embarking on a rambling journey around San Diego and Imperial counties. Software enginer Mark Roehr, who lives across the street from Westerfield, testified that he and his wife Janet have socialized with Westerfield over the last four years. Roehr said the defendant would park his motor home in front of his home for a period of time ranging anywhere from a day to several days. Roehr agreed under questioning from Boyce, that Sabre Springs was a family neighborhood where a range of school-age children could be seen walking its streets. Roehr said he found Westerfield's motor home unlocked at one time. Prosecutors have presented forensice evidence that blood and hair from the victim was found in the motor home. The Roehrs returned to the Sabre Springs neighborhood around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 after a day of house-hunting to learn of Danielle's disappearance, according to the testimony. Westerfield appeared moments later in his motor home. Roehr said his neighbor was unable to get to his home because of the presence of the news media, and because authorities had taped off certain parts of the neighborhood. "He pulled up on Briar Leafe toward Mountain Pass road then gave me a sign like 'what's going on?' " Roehr said. "Rather than try to explain through the window of the motor home, I just pointed him down the street toward Mountain Pass to find a place to park." Under cross examination from Dusek, Roehr said that it had been several months since Westerfield had brought his motor home into the neighborhood. He also said that he had never seen school-age children in the motor home. The couple had been in the neighborhood around 10:30 a.m. the morning of the girl's disappearance, but at the time had noticed nothing unusual, Roehr said, under the prosecutor's questioning. Westerfield was not seen in the neighborhood then, Roehr said. Roehr also said he never checked the motor home's door daily to see if it was locked. "Did it appear that when the motor home would be brought into the neighborhood it was in preparation for a trip?" asked Dusek. "Typically, yes," Roehr said. "Why do you say that?" "Because I know that's what he does. He comes in, he cleans the windows, gets it ready -- because it's stored some place where it gets dirty. He gets it prepared." The prosecutor noted that it appeared to be "a ritual" when Westerfield was planning for a trip." On most occasions, Roehr said, Westerfield would be accompanied by his son, or a girlfriend. 'Helpful and friendly' Under questioning from Dusek, she testified that she had never been in the upstairs part of Westerfield's home, or his office. She too recalled seeing Westerfield's motor home arrive on that Saturday afternoon, but admitted to Dusek that it wasn't typical to see him in the motor home alone. Typically, she said, someone drove with him in a car to assist in picking up and dropping off the motor home from storage. "Did he have anyone with him this day," said Dusek. "No," she replied. Focus on hose: Prosecutors have made much of a garden hose being left out in front of the defendant's home on the weekend the victim disappeared and he left on the trip in his motor home. "Was it unsual for Mr. Westerfield to leave his hose unraveled on the front lawn?" asked Boyce. "I don't think so," Hung said. "You've seen it like that before." "Yes I have." Hung also verified that the motor home had been left in the neighborhood and that children were also seen in the vicinity. Another defense witness shared little more with the jury than his name and title before being dismissed. Boyce asked Richard Maler, a San Diego police robbery detective, if he had interviewed Keith Stone on Feb 2. Stone, a construction project manager, was with Brenda van Dam and two of her friends the night before the victim vanished. The interview took place at a police substation. But once Boyce asked Maler if Stone had told him where he had been that night, prosecutor Dusek raised an objection that led to a lengthy sidebar discussion between the judge and attorneys. When it ended, the witness was excused without a public explanation. The day's final witness was police detective Johnny Keene, who recounted the times he contacted Westerfield on Monday Feb. 4, upon his return to the neighborhood. His first contact was around 9:30 that morning he said, under questioning from defense attorney Steven Feldman, and lasted until around noon. There was a period of time when Westerfield accompanied them to an inspection of the motorhome on Skyridge Road. The defense attorney appeared irritated when Dusek produced a photograph that showed Keene and other authorities looking through Westerfield's garage, with the defendant present. The photograph, taken sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., was apparently introduced by Dusek to show the investigator was wearing gloves when he was going through the garage. It appeared to be the first time Westerfield's defense attorney had seen the rather sizeable photograph. "We see a man inside of his house," Feldman said, holding up the photograph for jurors to see. "Who's that?" After Keene identified him as a police sergeant, Feldman noted the man was standing in the area of the washer-dryer. "Do you see any sweat on Mr. Westerfield's armpits," the defense attorney said. "Not in that photo." Previously, authorities have testified Westerfield was sweating profusely when they contacted him, though the weather was relatively cool. After the jury was excused for the day, Feldman complained that he had not been previously provided a copy of the photo. Prosecutors rested their case Westerfield is accused of sneaking into the van Dam's Sabre Springs house on Feb. 2 and abducting Danielle, then killing her and dumping her body off rural Dehesa Road near El Cajon. Today was the 15th day of testimony in the case and the 17th overall day of court activity since the trial began on June 4. Judge William Mudd told jurors before the start of a noon lunch break that an additional prosecution witness had not been able to develop his or her testimony due to the speed with which the trial began and that prosecutors might call that witness "if and when that witness becomes relevant." Dog evidenceLawyers spent much of Tuesday morning revisiting the testimony of a dog handler who said his dog "alerted" to the possible scent of a cadaver on Westerfield's motor home in a police impound yard on Feb. 6.Canine handler Jim Frazee initially testified on Wednesday, June 26. Testimony didn't resume until today because jurors toured the motor home Wednesday afternoon and lawyers for both sides met with the judge to discuss witnesses and related legal issues on Thursday and Monday. There is usually no court activity on Fridays. Though his dog, Cielo, sat down, looked at him and barked after sniffing a storage compartment, Frazee admitted he wasn't sure the dog had had a valid reaction until he learned on Feb. 22 that Westerfield had been arrested and a blood stain had been found in the vehicle. The dog didn't give an "alert" after it was allowed to sniff a shovel and lawn chair stored in the compartment and failed to react after a second trip around the motor home, Frazee said. "'I didn' t know what to make of what Cielo did and left the scene wondering,'" Frazee said, reading from a Feb. 22 e-mail he had sent to friends about the incident. Both Cielo and Frazee's other search-and-rescue dog, Hopi, had failed to react during a previous inspection of the motor home at its storage area on Feb. 4. A defense attorney for Westerfield asked Frazee if he knew he had the nickname "180-Frank." "You have that because when you and your dog search in one direction, everyone goes in the other direction," Robert Boyce said. "I've never heard that," Frazee replied. Another dog handler, Rosemary Redditt, testified Tuesday morning that she saw Cielo's behavior at the motor home on Feb. 6 and had no question that the dog had actually given an alert. Other developmentsAnimal DNA analyst Joy Halverson testified that dog hairs found on Westerfield's laundry and in his motor home could have come from the van Dam family dog, Layla.Westerfield's lead defense attorney, Steven Feldman, questioned Halverson's credentials and methods, noting that her interpretation of the DNA evidence changed between her first report, a follow-up report and a presentation in the courtroom. There won't be any court activity on Thursday, due to the Independence Day holiday, or on Friday. Mudd told jurors he might have to change his rule against court activity on Fridays and hold a session on Friday, July 12. Mudd has said he plans to take July 15-19 off for his wedding anniversary.
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| Denise Kemal testifies during the murder trial of David Westerfield in a San Diego courthouse, June 10, 2002. Kemel, 28, testified that Brenda van Dam had introduced her to Westerfield, accused of the kidnapping and murder of seven-year old Danielle van Dam from her Sabre Springs home last February, at the start of a girls night out at a bar. REUTERS//Dan Trevan/POOL |
I have summarized the important parts where Dusek discusses what they will show/prove.
Here it is:
THIS TRIAL WILL BE ABOUT TWO PEOPLE. TWO PEOPLE. DAVID WESTERFIELD AND DANIELLE VAN DAM.
MORE SPECIFICALLY, IT WILL BE ABOUT WHAT DAVID WESTERFIELD DID TO BRENDA -- OR DANIELLE VAN DAM.
BECAUSE OF THAT, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THREE PRIMARY TIME PERIODS. THE FIRST BEGINS, THE FIRST AND PRIMARY BEGINS FEBRUARY 1ST AND GOES UNTIL DANIELLE'S BODY WAS RECOVERED. THE TWO OTHER PERIODS WILL BE THE WEEK BEFORE, A FRIDAY, WHEN BRENDA VAN DAM AND SOME OF HER FRIENDS HAD MINOR CONTACT WITH THE DEFENDANT.
THE OTHER PERIOD OF TIME WILL BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT WEEK, WHEN BRENDA VAN DAM AND HER TWO CHILDREN WENT OUT SELLING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES TO THE DEFENDANT. SO WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE THREE TIMES THE VAN DAM FAMILY HAD CONTACT WITH DAVID WESTERFIELD
. THE EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE WILL INDICATE THAT SOMEBODY SNEAKED INTO THE VAN DAM HOME THAT LATE EVENING FEBRUARY 1ST GOING INTO FEBRUARY 2ND; THAT SOMEBODY WAS ABLE TO GET UPSTAIRS TO DANIELLE'S ROOM; THAT SOMEBODY WAS ABLE TO GET HER OUT OF THE HOUSE. WE WILL SHOW YOU HOW THAT HAPPENED.
THAT SOMEBODY KILLED HER, MURDERED HER. WE WILL SHOW YOU WHO THAT IS. AND THAT SOMEBODY DUMPED HER BODY LIKE TRASH ALONGSIDE THE ROAD DOWN IN DEHESA. AND THE EVIDENCE WILL SHOW YOU WHO THAT IS.
THE EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE THAT WE WILL PRESENT WILL FOCUS ON DAVID WESTERFIELD, WHAT HE DID AND WHAT HE DIDN'T DO, WHAT HE SAID AND WHAT HE DIDN'T SAY.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THAT IS SOME OF THE EVIDENCE THAT YOU WILL HEAR. BY THE TIME WE FINISH THIS CASE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, AND THE EVIDENCE WILL INDICATE THAT IT WAS DAVID WESTERFIELD WHO WENT INTO THE VAN DAM HOME. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW HE GOT IN. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW DAVID WESTERFIELD GOT OUT OF THE VAN DAM HOME.
YOU WILL UNDERSTAND BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE WHAT HE DID TO DANIELLE VAN DAM AND WHAT HE DID WITH HER AND WHERE HE TOOK HER AND WHERE HE DUMPED HER. AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND, BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE, WHAT HE DID AND WHAT HE HAS DONE TO TRY TO GET AWAY WITH THIS.
YOU WILL FIND THE EVIDENCE IS SUFFICIENT TO CONVICT HIM OF MURDERING, KIDNAPPING, SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. THANK YOU
UCANSEE2;FresnoDA; Mrs. Liberty; demsux; MizSterious; Jaded; skipjackcity; RnMomof7; spectre; Poohbah; BARLF; Valpal1; FriarTom; DoughtyOne; Amore; Travis McGee; BunnySlippers; Hillary’s Lovely Legs; fivecatsandadog; mommya; Doc Savage; ~kim4vrwc's~; goldenstategirl; Politicalmom; southflanknorthpawsis; Lauratealeaf; mini_teacup;Snow Bunny; Alamo-Girl; Republican Wildcat; Howlin; Fred Mertz; onyx;SusanUSA;MdmKoochie ;Uni-Poster;fnord;Uni-Poster; Registered; TXDeb; tutstar; theirjustdue;notpoliticallycor ewrecked;lady reaper;Beach_Babe;brneyedgirl; wonders; HoHoeHeaux; vacrn; Karson;sbnsd;Rheo;John Jamieson;jacquej;let freedom sing; nycgal; hergus; Hildy; tutstar; ThinkingMan; Amore; Howlin; Mrs.Liberty; rolling_stone; wirestripper; Jhoffa_; GummyIII; Luis Gonzalez; Lanza; sneakypete; Tennessee_Bob; Greg Weston;Shezza;Dudley;Winstar1k;is_is;Wednesday’s Child;Donzerly lights;Mrs.O’Strategery;pinz-n-needlez;Angelique;Jdontom;Nancie;Tiger28;sunshine state;fatima;Henrietta;Blue Screen of Death;pubmom;mickie;Spunky;it’s me;TexKat;gigi;Yeti;alexandria;luv2lurkhere;JudyB1938;pyx
So did the jury, CTV, and the general population of the US.
Yep. Possession of possible/not proven child porn,sloppiness of leaving out a water hose, more sloppiness by allowing children that are unsupervised by their parents to sneak into his motor home, and being stupid enough to associate with Brenda and her friends.
UCANSEE...I must have missed the part of the trial where Dusek and company showed us how DW got into the home and got out of the home?
I swear, I've been watching...can someone help me out here? How did Dusek show us DW did this?
sw
So, is DW guilty ? What do you see him being convicted of, exactly?
DO you believe the proof provided by the Prosecution so far is enough to find DW guilty of MURDER?
Q: Did you see where Brenda parked her vehicle?
A. She--as we pulled up to the curb, they immediately pulled into the driveway.
Q. What happened then?
A. We got out of our vehicle, they got out of their vehicle, and we proceeded into the house.
Q. All together or were you separated?
A. They may have gotten out of the vehicle before we did, but I would say all together, I mean it was simultaneous.
Denise Kemal testimony:
Q. When you got to Brenda's where were Rich and Keith, if you recall?
A. They didn't come until after us.
Q. If you reall, How much time after you?
A. Probably five minutes, six, seven minutes.
-----Things that make ya go hmmmmmmmm..... thing is, there are too many things that make you go hmmmmmm about this entire trial.
See post 10.
Now, does the jury get to read Dusek's opening statement in the Jury room? Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall for THAT discussion?!
sw
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