Criminal
Aug. 13, 2002
Jury Continues to Deliberate in Girl's Murder
SAN DIEGO - Jurors ended their second day of deliberations Friday without reaching a decision in the trial of David A. Westerfield, who is charged with kidnapping and murdering his 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam.
Jurors began their deliberations Thursday, following a two-month trial and more than two days of closing arguments. They decided to meet Friday despite originally planning to take the day off. They left the downtown Superior Court about midday and will reconvene Monday morning.
Westerfield, a divorced, self-employed design engineer, is accused of kidnapping and murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted. He also is charged with possessing child pornography.
The trial began June 4, and 98 individuals testified. Prosecutors and defense lawyers introduced 199 exhibits. The jurors must weigh that evidence, almost all of which was contested strongly by one side or the other.
Among the evidence are 10,000 pornographic images taken from computer disks that police found hidden in Westerfield's office. Prosecutors allege that he was acting out sexual fantasies when he kidnapped Danielle.
The second-grader's parents discovered Feb. 2 that she was missing from her upstairs bedroom of their home in the northern San Diego community of Sabre Springs. Westerfield, who lived two doors away, was missing over the weekend and later told police he had made a rambling three-day trip in his 35-foot motor home.
Police arrested Westerfield on Feb. 22 after they identified Danielle's fingerprints, hair and blood in the motor home and Westerfield's house. Danielle's nude, decomposed body was found Feb. 27.
Westerfield's lawyer contended in his closing argument that it was the lifestyle of Danielle's parents, which included marijuana use and sex with another couple, that exposed their home to other people who might be responsible for the girl's death.
Brenda and Damon van Dam, who testified early in the trial, asserted that their personal conduct had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance.
Defense lawyer Steven Feldman argued that it was "absurd" to suggest Westerfield could have entered the van Dam home and taken the girl without being caught or leaving physical evidence.
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek dismissed those arguments as "last chance desperation" that didn't explain how Danielle's fingerprints, blood and hair ended up in Westerfield's motor home and why strands of her hair were found in the sheets of his bed.
Dusek also reminded jurors that Westerfield took a jacket stained with Danielle's blood to a cleaner two days after she vanished.
Claude Walbert
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