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CNN Live Today
Life or Death?
Aired September 05, 2002 - 12:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR; Right now, the jurors who conducted David Westerfield for killing Danielle Van Dam are trying to decide his fate. They have only two choices: life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is monitoring those deliberations in San Diego -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the jury began deliberating just about 20 minutes ago in the penalty phase of this case. Over the last few days, we've been hearing from relatives, and family and teachers of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam, talking about how she will be missed, how this is a little girl who was writing in her journal, who will never write in this journal again, how she was snatched out of her bed in the middle of the night, wearing her little Mickey Mouse earrings.
Then defense attorney came trying to present David Westerfield as an upstanding member of the community. His two aunts, a former girlfriend, his sister, all talked about what a nice person he was in their lives. The most moving moments came yesterday, when his two children, Neal and Lisa, talked about their father, their loving father, how he treated them and instilled family values in them. But when Lisa Westerfield, 21 years old, started to talk about her father, it was one of few moments we've seen David Westerfield showing emotion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still love your father.
LISA WESTERFIELD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you miss him?
WESTERFIELD: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WESTERFIELD: Now prosecutor Jeff Dusek of course tried to dispel any sympathy that jurors might have gained during that testimony, saying that this is a man that deserves to die, that he showed no compassion, or mercy, or pity for killing of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEFF DUSEK, DEPUTY ASST. ATTORNEY: This man has done that. This man has gotten so far beyond the line of decent society that he has to pay the ultimate punishment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will never walks the street again no matter what, you are guaranteed that. Don't give him what he wants. That is a subtle way of saying, kill him!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now defense attorney of course Steven Feldman talked about the fact that Westerfield does have any no criminal record. The worst thing that he has done was a DUI conviction, drunk driving conviction, and that this is a man that does not deserve to die.
He also tried to put lingering doubts in the jurors' minds, that perhaps when they did convict him of murder, perhaps there were some jurors who didn't believe that perhaps he was completely guilty, so they try to play on that in hopes that when they are in this penalty phase, that they will choose not to condemn him to die. They said they did get underway about 20 minutes ago, and they usually run until about 4:00 in the afternoon. If they don't reach a decision today, then they will meet again tomorrow morning for a couple of hours -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rusty Dornin, thank you.
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