California judge refuses to unseal van Dam hearing transcripts
By The Associated Press
08.20.02
SAN DIEGO — The judge in the trial of David Westerfield denied a media request to unseal the transcripts of closed hearings as the jury completed its eight day of deliberations yesterday.
Judge William Mudd said releasing the transcripts could expose jurors to evidence that was ruled inadmissible in Westerfield's trial on charges of kidnapping and killing his 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam.
"I don't need the headaches," Mudd said during the hearing, which was prompted by a motion filed on behalf of The San Diego Union-Tribune and other media outlets.
The judge bristled at a Union-Tribune editorial criticizing his decision to expel a radio producer from the courtroom after her station broadcast a report that included details of a closed-door hearing.
"I had no idea that in this community, I was the Saddam Hussein of the First Amendment," he said.
The attorney for the media, Guylyn Cummins, planned to appeal Mudd's decision, arguing that state law grants reporters access to all phases of a trial even when the material is not heard by jurors.
Jurors finished listening to a transcript of testimony by the San Diego County Medical Examiner and a forensic entomologist before adjourning earlier than normal after one member of the panel became ill, according to Donna Wisniewski, a spokeswoman for the court.
Danielle was last seen when her father put her to bed Feb. 1 in her second-floor bedroom. Her nude body was found along a rural road east of San Diego.
The jury was scheduled to resume its deliberations this morning.
Westerfield, 50, is charged with kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography. He could get the death penalty if convicted.