SAN DIEGO, April 18 (UPI) -- A San Diego County judge said Thursday he would personally review personnel records of the police officers who investigated the kidnapping and murder of Danielle van Dam before deciding if the documents should be turned over to the lawyers representing her accused killer.
In his ruling on an issue that could have a major impact on the strength of the case against David Westerfield, Superior Court William Mudd said he would decide if there were valid indications in the files that the detectives in the case had cut corners and used excessive force against suspects in the past.
Should the investigators be found to have past histories of being overly aggressive or violating suspects' rights, the defense could have the ammunition they need to suppress interrogations and possibly the search warrants used to seize the DNA evidence that was the basis of Westerfield's arrest.
Defense attorneys have insisted that two detectives who initially questioned Westerfield -- Mark Keyser and Mike Ott -- refused his repeated requests to have a lawyer present while they grilled him for nine straight hours about the disappearance of Danielle.
Defense attorney Robert Boyce said in his motion seeking the documents that Westerfield "thought he was abused and all that was missing were the bright lights and a rubber hose."
Westerfield, 50, was arrested several days later for the kidnapping and murder of the 7-year-old neighbor girl who was abducted from her home on Feb. 2 and found dead nearly a month later.
Because of their suspicions about the interrogation, Boyce and co-counsel Stephen Feldman want to look at police records for any similar complaints, particularly those against Ott and Keyser.
The two detectives allegedly also tried to visit Westerfield in his jail cell without his lawyer present on Feb. 28, the day after Danielle's body was discovered along a country road in eastern San Diego County.
Mudd did not indicate when he would issue a decision on the records, which by law are confidential. Westerfield's trial is scheduled to begin May 17 and could lead to a death sentence if he is convicted.
