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Westerfield jury reviews porn movies, photos

David Westerfield, with an image of Danielle van Dam in the background, during last week's closing arguments.
David Westerfield, with an image of Danielle van Dam in the background, during last week's closing arguments.  


By Harriet Ryan
Court TV

SAN DIEGO, California (Court TV) -- Jurors deciding David Westerfield's fate have spent part of their deliberations reviewing pornographic movies depicting the rapes of young girls.

The panel of six men and six women deliberated for a fifth day Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

On Friday morning, the jury asked to see the pornography evidence seized from Westerfield's home, according to court minutes. Thirty-five minutes later, the foreman sent a follow-up note asking for snapshots of Danielle L., the teenage daughter of Westerfield's former girlfriend.

Prosecutors suggested during the trial that jurors could find a motive for Danielle van Dam's abduction and killing in the pornography and in the pictures of the girl, identified as Danielle L., poolside in a bikini.

RESOURCES
Courttv.com coverage of the Westerfield trial 
 

The defense suggested, however, that the pornography belonged to Westerfield's 18-year-old son and the photos of Danielle L. were just innocent snapshots. When prosecutors played the rape movies during the trial, several jurors burst into tears.

Westerfield faces the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors alleged during the two-month trial that Westerfield was a budding pedophile who graduated from downloading child pornography to kidnapping, raping and killing his 7-year-old neighbor.

The notes, released Wednesday, are signed by the foreman, Juror 10, an accountant and father of an infant son. During jury selection, the foreman told lawyers he thought capital punishment was a deterrent to crime.

The panel asked Tuesday to rehear Westerfield's audiotaped interview with a police interrogation specialist.



 
 
 
 



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