Judge refuses to sequester jury in California murder trial

By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff

08.16.02

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SAN DIEGO — The judge in the trial of the man accused of kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old neighbor again rejected a defense request to sequester the jury, which was in its sixth day of deliberations yesterday.

Judge William Mudd told attorneys it wasn't necessary to put the jurors in a hotel, even though one alternate juror reported being followed, possibly by a member of the news media.

The ruling was in response to defense lawyer Steven Feldman's third request for jury sequestration in the trial of David Westerfield, who is charged with kidnapping and killing Danielle van Dam in February.

Feldman sought to have the jurors stay in a hotel, with limited outside contact, because of the intense media coverage of the trial and other high-profile kidnapping cases in Southern California.

Also yesterday, Mudd said he would crack down on press coverage of the trial, restricting reporters to contact solely with a court spokeswoman. He criticized reporters for hounding a court bailiff and clerk. A gag order prevents anyone involved with the case from speaking to reporters.

Earlier this week, Mudd refused to allow a barred radio reporter back in the courtroom, Court TV reported. During an Aug. 13 hearing, Mudd said neither River Stillwood nor any other representative of KFMB's The Rick Roberts Show would be allowed in the courtroom for the verdict in the trial, Court TV said.

Mudd had barred Stillwood from the courtroom Aug. 8, a day after the radio station aired details of a closed hearing between the judge and lawyers in the case. Mudd asked Stillwood to leave the courtroom after she said she didn't know the source for the station's story, Court TV reported.

Meanwhile, jurors yesterday asked to review testimony from a San Diego police evidence expert, Jennifer Shen. She testified during the two-month trial that an orange fiber caught in Danielle's necklace matched fibers in Westerfield's sport utility vehicle.

The jury previously had asked to see pornography seized from Westerfield's house, to hear an audio recording of the divorced engineer's police interview and to view a provocative picture he took of the teenage daughter of a former girlfriend.

Westerfield, 50, went on a long, meandering trip to the desert on Feb. 2, the day Danielle was reported missing from her home in suburban northern San Diego. In an interview with police upon his return, Westerfield used the word 'we' to describe a trip he claims to have made by himself.

Danielle's body was found three weeks later along a rural road east of San Diego.

Update

California judge refuses to unseal van Dam hearing transcripts
William Mudd also bristles at editorial decrying his decision to expel journalist from court: 'I had no idea that in this community, I was the Saddam Hussein of the First Amendment.'  08.20.02

Previous

Judge hearing case of slain San Diego girl scolds reporters
'The media in this community apparently cannot exercise restraint,' says William Mudd, ruling that court documents concerning lifestyle issues are to remain sealed.  05.08.02