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Prosecution Completes Rebuttal in Danielle Van Dam Case

Aired August 08, 2002 - 13:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The judge in San Diego has just finished charging the jury in a notorious child murder case. The prosecution has just completed its rebuttal, accusing David Westerfield of the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is in San Diego, where she has been covering this lengthy trial, and she's got the very latest for us from there.

Hi there, Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

You're right, the judge is now talking to jurors as we speak, before they begin deliberations, now all of this after a very lengthy 27-day trial.

Jurors will have a huge job ahead of them, Fredricka. They have 199 exhibits to go through, to look over, and then they have the testimony of nearly 100 different witnesses.

Now the prosecution a few minutes ago reminded jurors during the rebuttal argument there was much physical evidence that was found in David Westerfield's motor home. Now lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek said that Danielle Van Dam's hair, fibers from her clothing, fingerprints and blood were found inside the motor home. He said that hair was allegedly found in Westerfield's sink in the motor home, and the defense had argued all along that perhaps Danielle got in on her own -- and perhaps -- that explains some of that evidence. Dusek says there's no way that Danielle could have entered the motor home on her own. And even if she did, he says, she has to run all over that motor home, leaving all physical evidence behind -- the hair, the fingerprints and the blood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: Opening statement: The kids jumped up and down on the furniture in the living room, jumped up and down on other bed sheets that were downstairs. That was said in the opening statement. That was just said during in the closing statement. But in between, there's no evidence.

As my dad use to say "that's a whole lot of wind sauce in their pudding" -- it's not there; there's no substance to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: David Westerfield's fate is now in the hands of the jury. Now let's go to Anne McDermott who takes a look back at this very lengthy trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back in February, Danielle Van Dam of suburban San Diego disappeared.

DAMON VAN DAM, DANIELLE'S FATHER: She was just tucked in going to sleep. She goes to sleep on her own every night, and she was all cuddled up in the blankets with her babies.

MCDERMOTT: Three and a half weeks later, her decomposing body was found in the desert, but by then, a neighbor had been arrested.

QUESTION: Why were they coming to your house?

DAVID WESTERFIELD, DEFENDANT: Well, you would have to ask them.

MCDERMOTT: The trial of David Westerfield, which began in June, seemed at times to have less and less to do with the death of Danielle than with sex -- the sex lives of her parents and the defendant. Damon and Brenda Van Dam were grilled about their so-called swinging lifestyle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In year 2000, you engaged in sex with Felix (ph), and Andy and Brandon and -- I'm sorry, and Damon.

BRENDA VAN DAM, DANIELLE'S MOTHER: Yes.

MCDERMOTT: Another time, jurors were shown what authorities called child pornography taken from Westerfield's computer. The defense suggested maybe Westerfield's son was responsible for downloading it, but the son appeared in court and said he didn't. Then there was the dirty dancing testimony. One witness said that's what Brenda Van Dam and David Westerfield were doing at a bar the night Danielle went missing.

PATRICIA LAPAGE, DEFENSE WITNESS: Mr. Westerfield and Mrs. Van Dam were dancing.

QUESTION: Did you notice whether or not she appeared to be rubbing herself all over him.

LAPAGE: Yes.

QUESTION: Those were your words, weren't they?

LAPAGE: Yes.

MCDERMOTT: But traditional evidence was also introduced. Danielle's hair, fingerprints, and blood, found in Westerfield's motor home, a motor home he drove to the desert the weekend Danielle was abducted, and later carefully cleaned.

Finally, there was some gruesome testimony from a defense witness about how long it takes insects to ravage corpses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The amount of soft tissue you have on the remains, it's being taken off by -- primarily by the maggots.

MCDERMOTT: This testimony suggested the only time the body could have been dumped in the desert was at a time when Westerfield was under 24-hour police surveillance.

The prosecutors' own insect expert suggested Westerfield could have done it.

Then in the midst of the trial, another little girl went missing and another mother begged for her daughter's release.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please ask your captor to let you go.

MCDERMOTT: Samantha Runnion would be found dead, too. But the judge in the Westerfield trial warned the jurors to ignore this Orange County case, because they still have work to do for Danielle.

Anne McDermott, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, Danielle Van Dam's parents Damon and Brenda are expected to be here today in the courtroom. They have been here nearly every day of this trial. I can tell you, Fredricka, that we've been here outside of the courtroom. We have not seen them yet, but perhaps they are up in the hallways of the courtroom right now.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Thelma, how about the makeup of the jury?

GUTIERREZ: Well, so far, we know that there are six men and six women, 12 jurors chosen to hear the case. I can tell you a little bit about some of them. One is a welfare eligibility worker, who expressed some concerns about the Van Dam's smoking marijuana the night that their daughter vanished from the home.

There is another woman who apparently suffers from anxiety, who listened to Rush Limbaugh, and says that she believes that if you -- quote -- "intentionally take a person's life, then you should lose yours."

Another person a woman who has a degree in Christian studies believes pornography is morally wrong, and the list goes on and on.

I can tell you, there's also a young man that I saw in the courtroom, a student, who has been sitting on the jury as well. So you have a mix. You have Latinos, African-Americans, Caucasians and young and old. Some people with very different views about the death penalty as well. WHITFIELD: So, Thelma, were these juror not sequestered? Is that why they would know more about the more recent case, the Runnion case?

GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, they were told, Fredricka, that they shouldn't watch any media accounts of this case or anything else. But the judge even admitted that would be nearly difficult to do. I mean, this case, the Runnion case, have all received so much publicity, so much coverage, it's nearly impossible, to turn on a radio station, to turn on a television, or open a newspaper without hearing about the cases.

You're correct, this jury was not sequestered. The judge believed that would be too much of disruption to their lives, that there was no reason to think that they wouldn't follow the court's orders. So yes, they were asked by the defense several times to please sequester the jury, the judge was asked that, but the judge denied it each and every time.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much, Thelma Gutierrez. Of course, we will going back to you as we continue to keep an eye on this case, as jurors are now being charged with the case of David Westerfield, accused of murder in the case of Danielle Van Dam.

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