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CNN Live Today
Westerfield Formal Sentencing in November
Aired September 17, 2002 - 11:08 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Expect to hear sometime in the next hour from the parents of Danielle van Dam. A jury has recommended the death penalty for the man convicted of kidnapping and killing their 7- year-old daughter.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is standing by now live in San Diego with more on the sentencing of David Westerfield -- hello, Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Leon. Well, you know, in about an hour, the van Dams will show up here to the La Jolla Shores beach which was Danielle van Dam's favorite beach. It was also the site of her memorial service a few months back.
They will hold a news conference. They will address the media for the first time since the trial because a gag order, of course, was in place during that time, and they will talk about the verdict that was reached yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): David Westerfield sat quietly. He stared straight ahead and trembled, as he often does in court, as his punishment was read.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) determine that the penalty shall be death.
GUTIERREZ: The same 12 men and women who convicted the 50-year- old father of two of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in the guilt phase of the trial, recommended the most severe punishment in the penalty phase: death by lethal injection.
TONY, WESTERFIELD JURY FOREMAN: You sort of enter into this thing, you know, possibly knowing that you're for the death penalty, but yet you've never been put to the test in terms of making a vote on it; and everybody had to go through that step in their mind of, "Holy cow, this is real."
GUTIERREZ: All too real for the van Dam family, who hurriedly left the courthouse without addressing reporters.
As for jurors impaneled back in June...
TONY: Personally, I had a hard time thinking about anything else, so it was difficult. So I'd go home and I'd sort of continue thinking in my mind about everything.
GUTIERREZ: For most of the summer, this trial and this job had been all-consuming for the six woman, six man panel.
PAUL PFINGST, SAN DIEGO COUNTY D.A.: The jury was forced to look at exhibits that can only be described as gruesome. They were forced to look at pornographic evidence that was extraordinarily distressing. They were forced to consider the loneliness and terror that confronted a 7-year-old girl prior to her death. They were forced to walk into, or required to walk, into a vehicle where we believe the little girl was killed and think about what happened to that little girl.
These are traumatic life experiences.
GUTIERREZ: Two jurors spoke out, saying despite the emotional testimony, the van Dam's so-called swinging lifestyle and the bug experts who testified on the time of death issue, it all came back to the physical evidence.
TONY: The blood.
JEFFREY, WESTERFIELD JUROR: The blood.
GUTIERREZ: Danielle's blood, found on Westerfield's jacket.
JEFFREY: We were very methodical about it. We all had been through so much, taken a long time. We wanted to do it right.
GUTIERREZ: Defense attorney Steven Feldman had only this to say to the media.
STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're all very disappointed in the verdict, of course. But we respect the decision of the jury. Tragically, two killings will never justify one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: On November 22, David Westerfield will be formally sentenced.
Now, the jury had recommended death by lethal injection, but under California state law, the judge can go ahead and reduce that to life in prison without the possibility of parole, though many legal experts say that that is a very, very rare occasion, if he were to choose to do that. And again, a news conference in about an hour, the van Dams speaking out for the first time since the trial began -- Carol and Leon, back to you.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Thelma. We appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 17, 2002 - 11:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Expect to hear sometime in the next hour from the parents of Danielle van Dam. A jury has recommended the death penalty for the man convicted of kidnapping and killing their 7- year-old daughter.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is standing by now live in San Diego with more on the sentencing of David Westerfield -- hello, Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Leon. Well, you know, in about an hour, the van Dams will show up here to the La Jolla Shores beach which was Danielle van Dam's favorite beach. It was also the site of her memorial service a few months back.
They will hold a news conference. They will address the media for the first time since the trial because a gag order, of course, was in place during that time, and they will talk about the verdict that was reached yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): David Westerfield sat quietly. He stared straight ahead and trembled, as he often does in court, as his punishment was read.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) determine that the penalty shall be death.
GUTIERREZ: The same 12 men and women who convicted the 50-year- old father of two of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in the guilt phase of the trial, recommended the most severe punishment in the penalty phase: death by lethal injection.
TONY, WESTERFIELD JURY FOREMAN: You sort of enter into this thing, you know, possibly knowing that you're for the death penalty, but yet you've never been put to the test in terms of making a vote on it; and everybody had to go through that step in their mind of, "Holy cow, this is real."
GUTIERREZ: All too real for the van Dam family, who hurriedly left the courthouse without addressing reporters.
As for jurors impaneled back in June...
TONY: Personally, I had a hard time thinking about anything else, so it was difficult. So I'd go home and I'd sort of continue thinking in my mind about everything.
GUTIERREZ: For most of the summer, this trial and this job had been all-consuming for the six woman, six man panel.
PAUL PFINGST, SAN DIEGO COUNTY D.A.: The jury was forced to look at exhibits that can only be described as gruesome. They were forced to look at pornographic evidence that was extraordinarily distressing. They were forced to consider the loneliness and terror that confronted a 7-year-old girl prior to her death. They were forced to walk into, or required to walk, into a vehicle where we believe the little girl was killed and think about what happened to that little girl.
These are traumatic life experiences.
GUTIERREZ: Two jurors spoke out, saying despite the emotional testimony, the van Dam's so-called swinging lifestyle and the bug experts who testified on the time of death issue, it all came back to the physical evidence.
TONY: The blood.
JEFFREY, WESTERFIELD JUROR: The blood.
GUTIERREZ: Danielle's blood, found on Westerfield's jacket.
JEFFREY: We were very methodical about it. We all had been through so much, taken a long time. We wanted to do it right.
GUTIERREZ: Defense attorney Steven Feldman had only this to say to the media.
STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're all very disappointed in the verdict, of course. But we respect the decision of the jury. Tragically, two killings will never justify one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: On November 22, David Westerfield will be formally sentenced.
Now, the jury had recommended death by lethal injection, but under California state law, the judge can go ahead and reduce that to life in prison without the possibility of parole, though many legal experts say that that is a very, very rare occasion, if he were to choose to do that. And again, a news conference in about an hour, the van Dams speaking out for the first time since the trial began -- Carol and Leon, back to you.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Thelma. We appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
