SAN DIEGO -- David Westerfield's tearful former live-in girlfriend testified today that she still cares for the man accused of kidnapping 7-year-old Danielle van Dam from the child's bed five months ago.

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"Susan L." testified that she had just broken up with the defendant when she saw on television that he was a suspect in the second-grader's disappearance Feb. 2.

The woman, whose full name was not disclosed in court because her own daughter was involved in the case, started to cry when prosecutor Jeff Dusek asked her about the last time she had seen Westerfield.

"You still like him, don't you?" Dusek asked her.

"I care about him," she said as she broke down.

The witness said she spoke with Westerfield the day after she had been out with a male friend.

Dusek showed Susan L. a transcript of her Feb. 5 interview with police.

The prosecutor asked the witness if she saw the defendant the night she went out with the other male friend.

"Did you tell law enforcement that you saw (the defendant) sitting outside?" the prosecutor asked.

"Yes, it does say that, but ..." she said, her voice trailing off.

Westerfield, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted.

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Analysis From Attorney Milt Silverman

The prosecution rested its case Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge William Mudd denied a defense motion to acquit Westerfield on a special circumstance allegation of murder during a kidnapping and possession of child pornography.

Mudd noted that the defense motion "brings to the court the question of whether or not, in the best light possible given to the prosecution's evidence, is there sufficient evidence to go to the jury from the question of the guilt or innocence of Mr. Westerfield on charges he is facing."

"The answer to that question is 'yes,"' Mudd (pictured, left) said, answering his own rhetorical question. "The motion is denied."

Police criminalist Tanya DuLaney testified Tuesday that blue fibers found in Westerfield's motor home match fibers found around the body of the victim and on clothes in his washing machine.

DuLaney said she found a total of 46 blue fibers while examining the 1997 Southwind motor home Feb. 6, four days after the second-grader was discovered missing from her Sabre Springs home.

Eleven blue nylon fibers were found on the headboard of the bed at the back of the vehicle, DuLaney said, with 31 discovered on bench seats, one on a front passenger seat and the rest on a couch.

DuLaney said she tested the fibers for the last time two days ago.

She said she compared them to "known" samples "taken from the sheet wrapped around Danielle prior to her body being wrapped in a body bag" and from Westerfield's washing machine.

"Did you note any similarities?" Deputy District Attorney George "Woody" Clarke asked.

"Yes, I did," DuLaney (pictured, right) said.

The fibers were the same in every way she could test for, she testified.

Police criminalist Jennifer Shen testified that orange fibers found on a towel taken from a bag in Westerfield's Toyota 4Runner were similar to orange fibers found in a necklace on the body of Danielle van Dam when it was discovered Feb. 27 off Dehesa Road.

"They looked similar to me to the fibers that I had found -- the fiber on the necklace -- from the victim's neck," Shen said. "They looked similar to the orange fibers that I had seen in the defendant's laundry, from in the washing machine, on top of the dryer, in the dryer. They also looked similar to orange fibers that I had found on the pillow case from the bedding taken from the defendant's bedroom."

Westerfield's lawyer called two witnesses to the stand in an effort to establish alternative ways potentially incriminating evidence wound up in the motor home.

Under question by attorney Robert Boyce, the daughter of a woman who lived with Westerfield said she helped him work on the motor home in front of a park on Mountain Pass Road, down the street from his house, sometime last year.

Christina Gonzales (pictured, left) could not remember the month when she helped Westerfield with the work.

While doing the work, she said, both she and Westerfield walked down the street to his house "a couple times." A mother and child were playing in the park at some point, she said, but could not recall the youngster's gender.

The defense has asked a number of witnesses about how often the defendant parks the vehicle outside his home and how many children roam the neighborhood.

One place he parked the motor home was close to a route Danielle took to visit a friend.