Posted on 08/12/2002 10:16:25 PM PDT by FresnoDA
A: I WAS ASKED TO TRY TO LOCATE ITEMS FROM A DRYCLEANING RECEIPT TAKEN OUT OF A VEHICLE. AND SO I WENT UP THERE TRYING TO LOCATE THE DRYCLEANER'S.
Q: DID YOU KNOW WHICH DRYCLEANER'S TO GO TO?
A: NO, I DID NOT AT FIRST.
Q: YOU HAD A RECEIPT FROM A DRYCLEANER'S?
A: YES.
Q: WHAT DID YOU DO?
A: I WENT TO THE AREA WHERE THE SABRE SPRINGS RESIDENCE WAS AND STARTED FANNING OUT THERE, GOING TO THE CLOSEST DRYCLEANER'S THAT I THOUGHT THE PERSON WOULD USE.
snip
A: ON TUESDAY I WENT TO FOUR DIFFERENT DRYCLEANER'S IN THE POWAY AREA CLOSEST TO THAT RESIDENCE.
Q: TUESDAY WOULD BE FEBRUARY 5TH.
A: FEBRUARY 5TH, YES.
Q: EVENTUALLY DID YOU FIND THE APPROPRIATE DRYCLEANER'S?
A: YES, I DID. ON FEBRUARY 6TH.
snip
A: THE CLERK TOLD ME THAT SHE KNEW MR. WESTERFIELD AND THAT SHE DID TAKE SOME ITEMS IN ON THE MORNING OF MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH.
Q: DID THEY SHOW YOU ANY OF THOSE ITEMS?
A: YES, THEY DID.
There's been a lot of debate and speculation about the jacket. I don't know all the details, but in general, I think:
- The stains were identified as being DNA that is consistent with the DNA that was taken from panties that were found in Danielle's bedroom.
- The DNA is (probably) also consistent with the DNA of Brenda and the boys.
- They appeared to be blood, but could have been something else. Drool, whatever.
- The jacket was supposedly "normally kept" in the motor home. Its precise location during the week(s) prior to being taken to the dry cleaners has never been specified.
- There are questions involving dry-cleaning receipts that show two jackets being brought in on two different dates. The one that was brought in on the receipt dated 1/26 was identified by the clerks as simply a "jacket". The one that was brought in on the receipt dated 2/4 was identified as a "sport jacket". The actual jacket in question is something like a windbreaker.
- The computer that generated the receipts was possibly / probably experiencing problems on 2/4. Times and sequence numbers were apparently among the fields that were affected. Were dates affected also? This is all very muddy. It could be helpful to either side, depending on how it is interpreted by the jury.
- The San Diego Police mis-handled the testing in a way that effectively prevented the defense from doing their own testing. They failed to take proper 35mm photographs of the stains before cutting them out, and then they did proceed to cut them out.
- The testing that was done was not the best, full-blown DNA testing that could -- and should -- have been done.
- There are questions regarding the chain of custody on the jacket. Speculation that the stains could have planted after the SDPD had already decided that DW was their man. This may seem far-fetched at first, but the SDPD has done such things in the past.
- The clerks did not note nor did they recall seeing any blood on the jacket at the time they took it in.
The list goes on. There are many people who think that how the jury interprets these stains versus the bug evidence will be critical to the outcome. I am not among those. I think the two approximately offset each other, so I go on to the other questions.
(Anyone: please feel free to correct me on any of this.)
12 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION, CALLS FOR SPECULATION, HEARSAY. 13 THE COURT: SUSTAINED.
Q. YOU WERE PROVIDED SOME INFORMATION BEFORE GOING TO THE DRY CLEANERS, CORRECT?
A. YES.
Q. AND YOU WERE PROVIDED WITH THIS INFORMATION BEFORE GOING TO THE DRY CLEANERS ON FEBRUARY 6TH?
A. I WAS PROVIDED WITH INFORMATION THAT TWIN PEAKS CLEANERS COULD POSSIBLY BE THE ORIGIN OF THAT RECEIPT.
Feldman stayed well away from it. Other than calling into question the dates on the cleaning receipts, there was nothing he could directly do with it, so he didn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. His response to it was with the bug evidence. (My opinion, anyway.)
A. YES, EVENTUALLY.
Q. AND THE DRY CLEANING SHE BROUGHT OUT TO YOU IN RESPONSE TO SHOWING HER THE RECEIPT WAS A BLACK T-SHIRT, A BLACK PAIR OF PANTS AND A BLACK SWEATER STILL IN THE GARMENT BAG; IS THAT CORRECT?
A. THAT IS CORRECT.
Q. THAT'S THE DRY CLEANING THAT SHE TOLD YOU THAT MR. WESTERFIELD GAVE TO HER THAT MORNING?
A. YES.
BZZZZ....wrong answer Ms.Mills....DW gave you the jacket and comforters.
Q: THIS APPEARS TO BE THE ORIGINAL?
A: YES, I BELIEVE SO.
Q: DOES IT INDICATE THE NAME OF THE DRYCLEANER'S THAT IT CAME FROM?
A: NO, IT DOES NOT.
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