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San Diegans React To Westerfield Verdict
Officials Happy, Trial Watchers Divided
Posted: 3:38 p.m. PDT August 21, 2002
Updated: 7:19 p.m. PDT August 21, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- 10News spoke to dozens of people shortly after the verdict was read, and found much less agreement than was seen from the jury.

A number of people said they expected that the jury would not come to a decision.
"I was shocked," a patron at Dad's Cafe and Steakhouse said. "I thought it was going to be a hung jury."

Outside the courtroom, several hundred people standing around television sets applauded when they heard the guilty verdicts.

"It was the right decision. I have no doubt," onlooker Jeri Fortier said.

Kim Jones is a legal assistant who works near courthouse. She said the verdict left her uneasy.

"A lot of people are so convinced, and the jurors were unanimous. I don't get it. I'm not totally convinced that he's innocent, but I'm not totally convinced he's guilty either," Jones said.

Westerfield's ex-brother-in-law, John Neal, spoke to reporters as he left the courthouse. The defendant's sister sat on a bench and cried.

"I'm in shock," Neal said. "What can I say?"

When asked if he thought his ex-brother-in-law was innocent, Neal said, "He thought he was going to get off."

Police Take Pride In Verdict
San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano nodded, held up a clenched fist and pumped it slightly as he watched the guilty verdicts being read on television.

Bejarano, in the SDPD's Media Relations Unit office, looked around at other department members when he heard the verdict and quietly asked, "All three, huh?"

Other SDPD personnel hailed the verdicts as well, saying the case reflected well on the agency they serve.

"It just goes to show that our department is head and shoulders above everybody else, (in) our investigative abilities," Officer Gil Flores said.

Recruiting Officer Stacee Botsford echoed Flores' comments, saying she'd heard from relatives in other parts of the country that her department had performed well well throughout the nationally televised trial.

"It makes us proud," Botsford added as she watched the end of the verdict-reading session in the SDPD's second-floor press room.

District Attorney Applauds Prosecution
Prosecutors did "a good job for the people of San Diego" in winning the murder conviction Westerfield, District Attorney Paul Pfingst said.

But with a gag order in effect, he said he wouldn't have a full statement until the penalty phase of the trial is over. It begins next Wednesday.

"There's still more work to be done," Pfingst said. "When the case is over, I'll have a statement. But right now we should allow the jurors to do their job and not try to do anything to influence it other than what happens inside the courtroom."

Pfingst spoke to a crush of reporters outside the downtown courthouse.

"I'm proud of my prosecutors," Pfingst said. "They've done a good job. They've always done a good job for the people of San Diego."