[connectthedots]

The whole thing is very sad and disgusting. I'm not sure Westerfield is innocent in any sense of the word, but the prosecution sure didn't prove their case to my satisfaction. As an entomologist who has studied forensic entomology, and my understanding of the entomological data, it seems almost 100% to me that the girl was put whre she was found while DW was under constant surveillance. That's the creepiest thing to me about the case, and really the only thing that got me following the case at all.

I am surprised that at least one juror did not hold out based on the bug evidence alone. I think the emotions of the jurors had regarding the porn overwhelmed their collective sensabilities and reasoning related to bug evidence. If DW did just breakup with his girlfriend, it does not surprise me that he would wonder around for a day or two in his motor home. A guy that likes relatively slim, big-busted women does not all of a sudden take a sexual interest in a little girl. It make no sense to me.

Like you, I am not totally convinced of his innocense, but I am convinced the prosecution did not actually prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt; not even close. This is one case in which a hung jury may have been the best result. It is also a good argument against the death penalty.

[agrandis]

I think the death penalty is the only meaningful option in many cases. I think if we had a population more like the one this nation started with, intellectually, we would have better juries, and trials would be more just. Now we have people getting off when there is no resonable doubt they're guilty, and people being hanged when there is a mountain of reasonable doubt. Race problems, the emotional mind God gave women (thy didn't use to be on juries), and a marked increase in sheer ignorance from several causes has made the American judicial system all but arbitrary.

[twigs]

I think the emotions of the jurors had regarding the porn overwhelmed their collective sensabilities and reasoning related to bug evidence.

I believe the highly publicized amber alerts that became prominent during this trial had a lot to do with his conviction. People had a sense that citizens were fighting back against this dasterdly crime--and winning!--and here was this jury that could also do their part.

If DW did just breakup with his girlfriend, it does not surprise me that he would wonder around for a day or two in his motor home. A guy that likes relatively slim, big-busted women does not all of a sudden take a sexual interest in a little girl. It make no sense to me.

The fact that DW just broke up with his girlfriend made me think all along that DW, in an anxious, depressed state, may have taken actions normally not typical of him. A few weeks ago, former FBI profiler Candace DeJong (I think that's her name--she's excellent and appears on FNC), said that child molestation breaks across all lines of society. It's even possible for an older man, for example, who's never acted on it before to be quilty. I was surprised by that and I thought of DW.

Like you, I am not totally convinced of his innocense, but I am convinced the prosecution did not actually prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt; not even close. This is one case in which a hung jury may have been the best result.

Entirely agreed!