SAN DIEGO -- An attorney for accused child killer David Westerfield said police ignored his client's requests for a lawyer and questioned him abusively following the disappearance of Danielle van Dam, 10News reported.

DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage DISCUSSION Share your feelings, thoughts Email: daniellevandam @yahoo.com Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

In court documents filed in San Diego Superior Court, defense attorney Robert Boyce said that the police interrogations were so forceful that Westerfield started to become unstable.

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In the documents, Boyce said that "at least two officers expressed concern about Mr. Westerfield's emotional stability as a result of the interview process."

In the days after the 7-year-old vanished, police were so rough in their questioning that Westerfield (pictured, right) "stated that he thought he was abused and all that was missing were the bright lights and a rubber hose," Boyce said in the documents.

The documents maintain that after Westerfield became a suspect, police interrogated him for nine straight hours, ignoring his repeated requests to speak with a lawyer, sleep, make telephone calls, shower, change clothes and halt the interview.

"I asked you to get me a lawyer. Bring me a lawyer in here. Bring the D.A. in. Bring somebody in I can talk to. ... You're asking me to admit to something," Westerfield told police detectives during one interview, the court documents state.

"As far as I'm concerned, I didn't do it. I know that you're adamant that I did."

Westerfield's trial is scheduled to begin on May 17.

His lawyers filed the court documents on Tuesday as part of a request to examine the personnel files of 13 San Diego police officials who worked on the investigation.

Westerfield's legal team is attempting to prove that police used improper methods and also misrepresented those methods in subsequent reports and testimony, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

To support their argument, Westerfield's attorneys insist they are entitled to review officers' personnel files to determine if they have engaged in previous misconduct. A hearing on their request is slated for April 18, 10News reported.

Westerfield, 50, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. The self-employed engineer is accused of killing Danielle van Dam and dumping her body in San Diego's East County.

Prosecutors have not announced whether Westerfield would face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted.