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CNN Live Today

Jury in van Dam Murder Trial Continues Deliberations

Aired August 09, 2002 - 11:02   ET

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

KAGAN: While we wait for that news conference to start, let's check out in California where jurors will try again today to reach a verdict in the Danielle van Dam murder case. They're deliberating the fate of David Westerfield, the neighbor charged with kidnapping and killing the 7-year-old girl.
Our Thelma Gutierrez is covering the case, and joins us from San Diego -- Thelma, good morning.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well during deliberations, the jury will not be sequestered despite the fact that this trial has received so much publicity. Now, jurors were supposed to have the day off, but the judge said that they told him yesterday they wanted to go through the day.

Now yesterday, the prosecution finished its rebuttal argument, telling jurors the defense had misstated the evidence during closing arguments. Lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek told jurors that Westerfield had tried to get rid of evidence from his home and his motor home, after he allegedly kidnapped and murdered Danielle van Dam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: This is not just a, Let's wash the clothes at the end of a trip. He had hardly gotten anything dirty at the end of the trip. He was washing and cleaning every piece of incriminating evidence, every single piece that hadn't already been tossed. He was cleaning like a dervish, it was like Hazel (ph) on steroids. He was cleaning everything around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Now, Westerfield's attorney had argued a whole different theory. He said that Danielle's hair and fibers and even her fingerprints were in Westerfield's home because she had apparently gone there to sell Girl Scout cookies with her mother some time before she was kidnapped. As for the motor home, the defense had argued that the evidence ended up there because the motor home would sometimes be parked in the neighborhood. Sometimes it was left unlocked, and he said that perhaps Danielle had gone into the motor home to play -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Thelma Gutierrez in San Diego. Thank you so much. We will check back with you for word -- any word of a verdict.

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