USD Magazine, Winter 2003

ALMANAC

ase

Verdict on Prosecutor is Unanimous Praise

by Cecilia Chan A George "Woody" Clarke boarded a Hight to one of his frequent speaking engage– ments, a ticket agent sudden ly recognized the San Diego deputy district artorney, who last year helped win a guilty verdict in che gut-wrench– ing case of David Westerfield, convicted of kid– napping and murdering a 7-year-old girl. With a simple ''thank you" chat spoke volumes, the agent bumped him up to first class. Such reactions are becoming common for C larke, a 1977 School of Law graduate whose expertise in DNA evidence has been renowned for years in legal circles. In addition to the Westerfield case, C lark worked for the prosecution team on the high-profile trial of O.J. Simpson. He's appeared some 50 times on national television, including "Larry King Live" and Fox's "Last Chance: Guilty or Innocent." Requests for him to speak come in from far-Hung pares of the globe like the United Arab Emirates and Rio de Janeiro. His new-found celebrity status, however, hasn't gone to his head.

"He is the nicest guy you will ever run into," says fellow prosecu– tor Jeff Dusek, lead attorney on che Westerfield case. "Nothing seems to upset him or throw him off course. " Dusek adds that without C larke, che Westerfield case, which hinged on DNA evidence, may not have reached trial. "He's probably the preeminent attorney in the country in the DNA field," Dusek says. "He is as good as they come." C larke, who has a daughter of his own, was saddened by che Westerfield case, but heartened chat he cou ld help gain a death

penalty conviction for the murder of young Danielle Van Dam. "Having a child, particularly a liccle girl, made chis case a pare of our lives, and it will probably continue to be chat way forever," says Clarke. The 51-year-old attorney fell into forensic science in 1984 as a second-year prosecutor in the San Diego County District Attorney's office, when he successfully co-prosecuted che 1989 death-penalty case of David Allen Lucas. Lucas, an Ease San Diego Co unty carpet cleaner, fatally slashed the throats of two women, including a USO

8

USO M AG AZ I N E