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SAN DIEGO – The District Attorney's Office spent nearly $270,000 prosecuting David Westerfield, including thousands for DNA analysis and expert witnesses, it was announced today. Westerfield was sentenced to die for the February 2002 killing of 7-year- old Danielle van Dam. The former Sabre Springs resident and neighbor of the victim is now on death row at San Quentin. According to figures the District Attorney's Office released, more than $35,000 was spent on experts for Westerfield's trial, and more than $146,000 on DNA analysis. More than $62,000 was spent on a telephone survey and a jury questionnaire review.

Early last month, Dave Laspisa, a Poway businessman, opened his mail and discovered a holiday card from his old friend David Westerfield. "Greetings of the Seasons," the card announced, and inside was a handwritten note of thanks for Laspisa's support. Van Dams file lawsuit against Westerfield During the past year, Laspisa has been fairly vocal in his belief that Westerfield, his camping buddy, had nothing to do with the murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. "Please know that I was not involved in the death of this child," Westerfield wrote. "I'm saying this to you not to solicit more help...

SAN DIEGO – The parents of murdered 7-year-old Danielle van Dam sued her convicted killer, David Westerfield, on Thursday, one day before a San Diego judge was expected to sentence him to death for the harrowing crime. Damon and Brenda van Dam seek unspecified damages in their San Diego Superior Court lawsuit against Westerfield, the 50-year-old engineer who was found guilty in August of snatching Danielle from her bed and killing her. Westerfield, a twice-divorced father of two who lived near the van Dams in Sabre Springs and bought Girl Scout cookies from Danielle just days before her February abduction,...

When a person goes in search of enlightenment, it's usually good advice to avoid an Internet chat room. And yet it was a random posting on the Internet that led to a key piece of evidence in the David Westerfield case. At a luncheon in Mission Valley yesterday, prosecutors Jeff Dusek and George "Woody" Clarke told a number of anecdotes – some of them funny, others poignant and revealing – about what happened behind the scenes in the most publicized criminal trial in San Diego County history. The luncheon was organized by the San Diego Crime Commission and about 100...

There were two trials of David Westerfield in the kidnap-murder of his 7-year-old neighbor. One that everyone saw, live on television. And one that no one saw because it was conducted in secret. The public trial of Westerfield was the one with entomologists, cops and grieving parents. And then there was the other trial – the one with the man who said he heard a child scream from Westerfield's motor home and the woman who said she was date-raped. Thursday, three days after a jury recommended that the 50-year-old design engineer be executed for kidnapping and murdering Danielle van Dam,...

TALE OF TWO LAWYERS...... DEFEATED and DECIETFUL

Discovery hearing set as jurors deliberate for ninth day SIGNONSANDIEGO August 20, 2002 A request by the prosecution in the David Westerfield kidnap-murder trial to obtain more evidence or information, originally scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. hearing, has been vacated. Word of the hearing's cancellation was relayed to media representatives shortly after 10 a.m. today.The subject of the discovery motion filed by lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek was not disclosed. No reason was given for the hearing's cancellation.Today is the ninth day of deliberation by jurors. Today's deliberating session began at 9:07 a.m., according to a public information officer.Westerfield, 50, is...

Mudd denies access to transcripts of closed hearings as well as lineage to Hussein SIGNONSANDIEGO August 19, 2002  WITH VIDEOWith the jury completing its eighth day of deliberations without a veredict in the kidnap-murder trial of David Westerfield, the judge in the case has denied a media request to unseal transcripts of closed hearings. The motion before Superior Court Judge William Mudd was filed by Guylyn Cummings, the attorney who represents the San Diego Union-Tribune and other media companies.During the trial, a number of hearings were held outside of public view. Mudd denied the motion, reasoning that the jury was...

Jury veterans say emotions can take overFeelings could impede addressing 'real issues' By Kristen GreenUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERAugust 18, 2002Jurors have deliberated on the David Westerfield case for seven days, and still no verdict. Commentators speculate about the reasons on every radio and television station. But only 12 people know what's going on inside the jury room, out of sight of the attorneys, the judge and the media.Jury consultants say the panel is probably quite organized and that deliberations are taking "a little long" because it's a complicated case. The experts say the jurors probably have been methodically sifting through evidence.But...

Letters to judge opened to public SIGNONSANDIEGO August 14, 2002 The judge in the trial of David Westerfield today allowed reporters to see court log entries of notes from jurors, as well as letters to the judge from the public about the murder of Danielle van Dam. The letters from the public included a variety of theories about the case. Jurors ask to review pictures, interview   One letter-writer sent the following theory to Judge William Mudd: "Danielle van Dam killed herself.'' A nearly illegible postcard with a Spokane postmark alluded to at least one ex-wife "with a drinking...

Jury's time Jurors will resume deliberations Monday in the capital case of David Westerfield, who is accused of killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam DAY TWO: FRIDAY, AUG. 9, 2002 12 noon ET    Jury enters jury room. 2:30 p.m. ET    Jury goes home for the weekend. DAY ONE: THURSDAY, AUG. 8, 2002 1:10 p.m. ET    Jury begins deliberating. After two months of testimony, the capital murder trial of David Westerfield is in the hands of the jurors, who began their deliberations following more than two days of closing arguments. 2:50 p.m.   Jury sends a note to the...

<p>A Clovis chiropractor was at the heart of an international child pornography ring that transmitted images so despicable they nauseated investigators, authorities said Friday after they unsealed indictments in Fresno.</p> <p>Lloyd Alan Emmerson, 45, was among nine Americans and six foreigners charged with taking sexually explicit photographs of minors and sending them over the Internet as part of a ring whose members sometimes referred to themselves as "the club."</p>

<p>SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) --A San Diego jury began deliberations Thursday in the trial of David Westerfield, accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.</p> <p>The panel of six men and six women adjourned for the day without reaching a verdict. It is set to resume deliberations Friday.</p>

Defense rests; each side puts its spin on evidenceBy Steve Perez and Jeff DillonSIGNONSANDIEGO August 7, 2002 Ending nearly five hours of defense argument, the chief attorney for murder defendant David Westerfield rested Wednesday afternoon by urging jurors to remember they "save us from lynchings" and reminding the panelists that they are the "conscience of the community." The jury should begin deliberations Thursday. Defense attorney Steven Feldman began his afternoon remarks by telling jurors he was in the "homestretch" of his arguments. Repeatedly, he urged jurors to take the defense's point of view into consideration when the prosecution received its...

During eight weeks of testimony in the David Westerfield trial, jurors have heard from grieving parents, cops, barflies, forensic analysts, bug experts and people who drive dune buggies around the desert wearing video cameras on their heads. But there's one person whose silence has been conspicuous – Westerfield himself. Closing statements in the kidnap-murder trial are scheduled for this week, and it's now clear that Westerfield won't be testifying on his own behalf. As a legal matter, it shouldn't make any difference. He has a constitutional right to remain silent, and the jury is forbidden by law from holding his...

San Diego SwingsThe murder of little Danielle van Dam brought “swinging” into the spotlight. Log on to the World Wide Web, type in “San Diego” and “swingers” on the Yahoo search, and you get 6,160 hits. That’s more than “San Diego” in combination with “hiking trails” (2,570), “car clubs” (772) or “pet lovers” (359)—though not as many as “golfers” (7,430) or “Republicans” (18,900).By Thomas K. ArnoldClub Paradise, according to its Web site, “is situated in the back hills of the El Cajon Valley, nestled in a secluded, yet easy to access area.” The facility offers a “high-class, home-party style environment”...

Prosecution witness challenges findings of defense 'bug expert' By Jeff DillonSIGNONSANDIEGO July 30, 2002 Union-TribuneDr. M. Lee Goff An insect expert testifying for the prosecution in the David Westerfield case said Tuesday that flies appeared to have colonized Danielle van Dam's body sometime between Feb. 1 and Feb. 14, far earlier than defense witnesses have estimated. M. Lee Goff, an entomologist and chairman of the Forensic Sciences Department of Chaminade University in Honolulu, said his review of the crime scene photos, morgue photos, weather reports and other evidence suggest that Danielle's body was exposed to insects as early as...

Judge says sequestering of jury possible By Alex RothUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 30, 2002The judge in the David Westerfield trial rejected another defense request to sequester the jury but said he still considers it "a possible option." Superior Court Judge William Mudd said he didn't think it was necessary at the moment but has asked the county to prepare "a back-up contingency plan" just in case.Westerfield's lawyers have asked several times for jury sequestration, and they renewed their request yesterday. Lead defense lawyer Steven Feldman said he worried that the jury might be affected by the publicity in the Samantha Runnion...

Bugs: The best witnesses? A forensic entomologist, who studies the maggots and insects found at a crime scene or autopsy, provided the strongest evidence yet for David Westerfield. By Harriet Ryan Court TV On one side there are Danielle van Dam's fingerprints, her blood drops, strands of the 7-year-old's blond locks, hair from a dog like her weimaraner and carpet fibers that seem to be from her room. There is child pornography and a convoluted alibi even the defendant calls "weird." On the other side, the side for David Westerfield's acquittal, there are bugs. The pile of evidence painstakingly...