Parents Of Kidnapped Girl Thank Jurors For Convicting, Recommending Death For Neighbor [Westefield]

AP (via Court TV) ^ | September 17, 2002

[Freedom2specul8]

Fres joined in may of 2001...

I can't fault them for not posting on other threads. I barely did either. Liberals are the ones who make personal attacks to discredit the opponent..I completely agree with that. Starting to sound like Rush limbaugh fans. :)

[Freedom2specul8]

I know!

[BunnySlippers]

I guess you hadn't heard.
http://pub141.ezboard.com/bfreerepublicrefugeeboard5175

Oh, this board was proselytizing heavily on the UT forum. It's not that they weren't nice ... they were disruptive on the other forum.

[BunnySlippers]

I can't fault them for not posting on other threads. I barely did either. Liberals are the ones who make personal attacks to discredit the opponent..I completely agree with that. Starting to sound like Rush limbaugh fans. :)

You're always on other threads. Without looking, I'll bet you're on about 8.

[BunnySlippers]

I'll bet you're on about 8.

At least.

[BunnySlippers]

A restricted forum for people who felt that their right to speak freely had been violated?

Hahaha ... very funny indeed.

[Freedom2specul8]

Disruptive...doesn't surprise me. Time to change the subject!

[bvw]

I'll stand by that. It was a mob sacrifice and NG was the high priestess. Thanks for digging up that departed bone, Bonaparte, good dog man *pat* *pat*.

[drlevy88]

"We will ask our angel, Danielle, to watch over you and your families," Brenda van Dam said. "We know she will take special care of you."

Thank you very much, if I were on the jury I would pass on that offer. I would not want a demonic phenomenon (dead people, whether saved or lost, don't come back as "angels") pursuing me.

[Bonaparte]

"...dead people... don't come back as angels..."

How do you know?

[ladyinred]

"He's a good man but for one three-day weekend of terror," his lawyer Steven Feldman said in court.

I very much hope that all of the 'reasonable doubt' people here read this one statement. It was in our newspaper today too. His very own attorney is admitting his guilt.

[Bonaparte]

Oh, but haven't you heard? You see, Feldman only said that to "butter up" the jurors before sentencing phase. He didn't really mean this damning admission -- at least, not according to the Elders Of The Lost Tribe of Westerfield.

[NYCVirago]

Oh, just a "3-day weekend of terror?" That's all? Maybe we should have just cited him for creating a public nuisance and let it go at that.

That sounds like the friend of Timothy McVeigh who testified that other than bombing the Murrah Building, McVeigh was a great guy!

[Bonaparte]

Yep, and John Wilkes Booth did nothing but entertain theatre-goers until he made one, weensy mistake and shot the President.

[BigBobber]

If this case was the "slam dunk" that you "hindsighters" claim it is, it would not have generated 10s of thousands of posts, gavel to gavel national coverage, and hours of jury deliberation.

The prosecution case was never strong. If DW was really ready to confess the DA should have accepted a plea bargin. As it was they were very fortunate to get both the conviction and death penalty. A confession would have locked up the case and erased all doubt for all time. Instead, the trail cost millions of dollars and ruined the reputations (deservedly) of the van Dams and many of their friends. A phyrric victory, since California will never execute DW.

To me, the fascinating aspect of this case is the moral conflicts it presents. Is real deviant sex worse than fantasy porn sex? Is smoking pot in the garage of a suburban home worse than drunk driving? Who is a better parent, DW or DVD? Is it OK for the police or prosecuter to lie to the suspect or jury? Is it OK for the defender? Should a defense attorney work hard to acquit a child killer? If these are not core issues for Freepers to discuss, I don't know what are. I'm proud of my contribution to the discussion and hope I provoked some thoughtful posts. It's our role to question authority. Something about the prosecution's "misplaced hose garden hose as evidence of guilt" rubbed me the wrong way.

The van Dams would have made it much easier if they had (or will) tell the whole truth about the night of Danielle's abduction. I believe DVD and BVD both lied on the stand and are still covering up something about themselves or their friends. DVD made me very suspicious of him in the John and Ken interview where he didn't want to reveal the "timeline" of that night. As it turns out, that timeline had nothing to do with convicting DW. It was only important to the van Dams. Why?

Finally, there is the little matter of the bug experts. DW probably dumped the body on Feb 1, so how could the bug guys be so far off? This will put the whole bug forensics into question and might lead to the release of other guilty parties. I believe I was the first to suggest the murderer doused the body with bleach. Perhaps a subject for future research.

[Illbay]

They're still defending him.

UCANSEE2 and John Jamieson are particularly adamant that they got the wrong guy.

[Illbay]

I have really one pet peeve in participating on FR, which brings out the worst in me. That is, to ask honest though contrarian questions, and receive ridicule in response.

This happened repeatedly on the Westerfield threads. I started out with an open mind, but the behavior of those who defended this monster eventually turned me against the notion he could be innocent.

"By their works shall ye know them." I can't imagine that anyone whose defenders are so sneeringly nasty could be a particularly wholesome person himself.

And I think the nastiness resulted from putting their faith in such a creepy monstrosity in human form. It caused them to put a lot of humane feelings in a box and store it out of sight.

Above all was the refusal to see how high the evidence stacked against Westerfield. Each new revelation was jeered and treated with humiliating condescension instead of examined logically.

Evidence on the other hand that seemed tentative and inconclusive was hailed as a breakthrough.

These people really had their blinders on, and I hope the humiliation of this "defeat" for their cause will make them leave. I just think they make the forum far less useful for their presence.

[Illbay]

FresnoDA registered after the murder and never posted anywhere on FR that wasn't a Westerfield thread.

Well, I have to say that's not exactly true. Although he is famous for starting most of the threads, FresnoDA posted several "local issue" threads related to where he lives (Fresno, natch) regarding public school issues, etc.

I actually first became aware of him from those, before I caught on to the "Westerfield is Innocent" rage.

[Illbay]

The prosecution case was never strong.

Strong enough, however, to convince twelve people--the only ones privy to ALL the information and protected from the misinformation of the type you Westy defenders loved to bandy about--that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Strong enough for these twelve to recommend he be put to death--NOT life without parole--in a state where the death penalty is rarely dispensed.

I really think you people need to give it up. Your argument was lost weeks ago.

[CW_Conservative]

Oh, but haven't you heard? You see, Feldman only said that to "butter up" the jurors before sentencing phase. He didn't really mean this damning admission -- at least, not according to the Elders Of The Lost Tribe of Westerfield.

Feldman is arguing in front of the jury that found Westerfield guilty. He can't argue innocence.

Why do you pretend to be so ignorant?

You got your conviction, why not be happy and move on. For those of us who believe in reasonable doubt, we still have the appeals process to go through if we so choose.

I don't see how your acting like a parrot for the prosecution is going to change any minds.