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CNN Saturday Morning News

David Westerfield Gets Death Penalty.

Aired January 04, 2003 - 08:44   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.


JOHN VAUSE: David Westerfield has been sentenced to death for the murder of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam. A jury convicted Westerfield of the kidnapped murder in August. One of a string of missing children cases that dominated the headlines. At yesterday's sentencing, Danielle's anguished parents talked about the pain of losing their daughter.
Here's CNN's national correspondent Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NAT'L CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brenda Van Dam said she could never adequately explain the impact of her daughter's death.

BRENDA VAN DAM, MOTHER OF VICTIM: How can I as a mother find words, meaningful words that would express how this unthinkable crime has affected my family? I can't, her father can't, her brothers can't, yet this is where our family finds ourselves in a courtroom standing across from the man who murdered our precious daughter and who greedily stole the heart out of our family.

But I can tell you how it felt to not know where Danielle was for 26 terrifying days, to know that someone else knew where she was and it was not her mommy or her daddy, but an evil stranger. It was sickening, and I felt like my heart was breaking into, and I was dying from the inside.

You sat by smugly as thousands of people frantically searched for Danielle and her family anguished over finding her. It disgusts me that your sick fantasies and your pitiful needs made you feel that you needed Danielle more than her family. I ask you why did you not let her go? Why didn't you drop her off in a safe place?

If you had done so, she would be with her family now and you would not be facing death. What were you thinking as you killed her? Did you not -- did she not touch your heart one bit? If not, you are heartless. You are an empty shell. You are nothing. If she did, reclaim some decency and apologize to her brothers, her parents and your own children and this community.

DAMON VAN DAM, FATHER OF VICTIM: Danielle was my daughter, my only daughter, my only Danielle. I'll never get to see her grow up, I'll miss her first date. I know she'd be such a smart independent person. I'll miss seeing her go to the prom. She would have had so much fun getting ready for the big date. I'll miss her graduation. It most likely would have been with honors. She was a hard worker. I'll miss seeing her go off to college, and I'll wonder what she would have become. She often talked about being a veterinarian or a dentist. I'll miss seeing her on her wedding day. I won't get to walk her down the aisle. I'll miss seeing her become a mom. She's such a good -- I know she would have been a great mom.

As the years past and all of these things don't happen, all I'll have are the memories of her held by some old pictures and videos and dreams of her, which I hope are always as vivid as they are now. And having to know how brutal the last hours of her life were, my heart and my wife's heart have been broken, and my other two children have been deeply hurt.

BUCKLEY: Defense attorney Steven Feldman was also passionate in his arguments to spare Westerfield's life. He said some of the police in the case violated Westerfield's rights in their quest for a conviction.

STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We are a society of law. We have a social contract. In our society, the ends do not justify the means. In this case, our social contract the court found was violated by law enforcement. Our constitutional system of justice has been attacked in this case. It's been attacked in the print media. It's been attacked in the visual media.

We're all under attack by doing our jobs. The independence of the court is threatened. The independence of the judiciary is threatened by these behaviors, your Honor. We fear that politics in this case -- in this case had a role in the determination as to whether or not to seek death for Mr. Westerfield.

That's a terrible thing. I ask you take the high road. I ask you don't acquiesce to the heartless killing of another. I ask you don't be suede by the lynch mob mentality we've seen in our community. Life without possibility of parole, your Honor, provides a closure in this case that we can't get otherwise.

JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: This was not a politically motivated case. This was a criminally motivated case. There are many things that we will never know in this case. Why that child? Why that night? How did he really do it? When did he do it? But we will know one thing for certain -- that he did it and he deserves the death penalty.

BUCKLEY: After hearing it all, Westerfield was given a chance to speak for himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Westerfield, is there anything you'd like to say, sir?

DAVID WESTERFIELD, SENTENCED TO DEATH: No, sir. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

BUCKLEY: And, with that, the judge made his ruling. JUDGE WILLIAM MUDD, CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURT: That for the crime of murder in the first-degree committed under the special circumstance that the murder was committed during the course and scope of a kidnapping that you shall be put to death within the walls of the California State Prison at San Quentin in the manner prescribed by law upon a date to be fixed by this court in a warrant of execution.

BUCKLEY: The penalty will be automatically appealed.

Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

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 January 4, 2003 - 08:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE: David Westerfield has been sentenced to death for the murder of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam. A jury convicted Westerfield of the kidnapped murder in August. One of a string of missing children cases that dominated the headlines. At yesterday's sentencing, Danielle's anguished parents talked about the pain of losing their daughter.
Here's CNN's national correspondent Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NAT'L CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brenda Van Dam said she could never adequately explain the impact of her daughter's death.

BRENDA VAN DAM, MOTHER OF VICTIM: How can I as a mother find words, meaningful words that would express how this unthinkable crime has affected my family? I can't, her father can't, her brothers can't, yet this is where our family finds ourselves in a courtroom standing across from the man who murdered our precious daughter and who greedily stole the heart out of our family.

But I can tell you how it felt to not know where Danielle was for 26 terrifying days, to know that someone else knew where she was and it was not her mommy or her daddy, but an evil stranger. It was sickening, and I felt like my heart was breaking into, and I was dying from the inside.

You sat by smugly as thousands of people frantically searched for Danielle and her family anguished over finding her. It disgusts me that your sick fantasies and your pitiful needs made you feel that you needed Danielle more than her family. I ask you why did you not let her go? Why didn't you drop her off in a safe place?

If you had done so, she would be with her family now and you would not be facing death. What were you thinking as you killed her? Did you not -- did she not touch your heart one bit? If not, you are heartless. You are an empty shell. You are nothing. If she did, reclaim some decency and apologize to her brothers, her parents and your own children and this community.

DAMON VAN DAM, FATHER OF VICTIM: Danielle was my daughter, my only daughter, my only Danielle. I'll never get to see her grow up, I'll miss her first date. I know she'd be such a smart independent person. I'll miss seeing her go to the prom. She would have had so much fun getting ready for the big date. I'll miss her graduation. It most likely would have been with honors. She was a hard worker. I'll miss seeing her go off to college, and I'll wonder what she would have become. She often talked about being a veterinarian or a dentist. I'll miss seeing her on her wedding day. I won't get to walk her down the aisle. I'll miss seeing her become a mom. She's such a good -- I know she would have been a great mom.

As the years past and all of these things don't happen, all I'll have are the memories of her held by some old pictures and videos and dreams of her, which I hope are always as vivid as they are now. And having to know how brutal the last hours of her life were, my heart and my wife's heart have been broken, and my other two children have been deeply hurt.

BUCKLEY: Defense attorney Steven Feldman was also passionate in his arguments to spare Westerfield's life. He said some of the police in the case violated Westerfield's rights in their quest for a conviction.

STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We are a society of law. We have a social contract. In our society, the ends do not justify the means. In this case, our social contract the court found was violated by law enforcement. Our constitutional system of justice has been attacked in this case. It's been attacked in the print media. It's been attacked in the visual media.

We're all under attack by doing our jobs. The independence of the court is threatened. The independence of the judiciary is threatened by these behaviors, your Honor. We fear that politics in this case -- in this case had a role in the determination as to whether or not to seek death for Mr. Westerfield.

That's a terrible thing. I ask you take the high road. I ask you don't acquiesce to the heartless killing of another. I ask you don't be suede by the lynch mob mentality we've seen in our community. Life without possibility of parole, your Honor, provides a closure in this case that we can't get otherwise.

JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: This was not a politically motivated case. This was a criminally motivated case. There are many things that we will never know in this case. Why that child? Why that night? How did he really do it? When did he do it? But we will know one thing for certain -- that he did it and he deserves the death penalty.

BUCKLEY: After hearing it all, Westerfield was given a chance to speak for himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Westerfield, is there anything you'd like to say, sir?

DAVID WESTERFIELD, SENTENCED TO DEATH: No, sir. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

BUCKLEY: And, with that, the judge made his ruling. JUDGE WILLIAM MUDD, CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURT: That for the crime of murder in the first-degree committed under the special circumstance that the murder was committed during the course and scope of a kidnapping that you shall be put to death within the walls of the California State Prison at San Quentin in the manner prescribed by law upon a date to be fixed by this court in a warrant of execution.

BUCKLEY: The penalty will be automatically appealed.

Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com