SAN DIEGO -- A bug expert testified Wednesday that Danielle van Dam's body was first invaded by insects 10 to 12 days before it was found Feb. 27, but the entomologist told a prosecutor that the body could have been there longer.

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David Faulkner said he based his opinion on flies, beetles and the larvae of flies recovered from the victim's body during an autopsy and at the recovery scene near Dehesa Road, in San Diego's East County.

Insect activity around a body can be used to estimate the time of death in some legal actions, including murder cases.

Attorneys for David Westerfield say Faulkner's findings prove their client could not have killed the 7-year-old because he was under 24-hour police surveillance from Feb. 5 until his arrest on Feb. 22.

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Summary Of Day 19

Defense attorney Steven Feldman asked Faulkner (pictured, right) if he realized that his opinion -- and how it could tie into time of death -- could cause a problem for law enforcement.

But Faulkner declined to be pinned down by the defense.

"I had in my notes that the person may have been dead longer," the entomologist replied.

He said the fly population was particularly low this year.

Under questioning by prosecutor Jeff Dusek, Faulkner said he was providing only a range of dates when the insects may have laid their eggs on the body.

Dusek asked the entomologist whether he could estimate the maximum amount of time that the flies and beetles had invaded the body.

"It's very difficult to do," Faulkner testified.

"The science just isn't that good, is it?" the prosecutor asked.

Faulkner reiterated the minimum time the insects were there, but couldn't say what the maximum time was.

The entomologist said the head of a body is typically infested by insects, but Danielle van Dam's was not.

"It made me question the availability of that part of the body to insects," Faulkner said.

Dusek suggested the victim's head may have been covered by a towel at one time.

Faulkner also said that two warm Santa Ana conditions in February could have limited insect activity in the recovery area.

Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping, possession of child pornography and a special circumstance of murder during a kidnapping.

He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Earlier, the defendant's former live-in girlfriend tearfully testified that Westerfield got forceful when he drank.

"Susan L." (pictured, left) said the self-employed design engineer's drinking was part of the reason she left him.

"When the defendant would be drinking, would he be kind of forceful?" Dusek asked the witness.

"I remember an occasion when he did," the witness testified.

The woman said she had just broken up with Westerfield when she saw on television that he was a suspect in the second-grader's Feb. 2 disappearance.

The woman, whose full name was not disclosed in court because her own daughter was involved in the case, started to cry when 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 woman said Westerfield called her the day after she had been out with a male friend.

Dusek showed the witness a transcript of her Feb. 5 interview with police, and asked her if she saw the defendant the night she went out with the other man.

She told Dusek that the friend kissed her on the cheek when he dropped her at home.

"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.

The witness told defense attorney Robert Boyce that the statement in the police report wasn't correct, but later admitted to Dusek that she hadn't corrected it when she reviewed it for accuracy.

The prosecution rested its case Tuesday.

Also 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 said, answering his own rhetorical question. "The motion is denied."

The judge is expected to decide Thursday whether to allow the victim's father back in the courtroom. Damon van Dam had been excluded from the courtroom and surrounding areas after the judge determined he was stalking the defendant and staring at him.

After that motion is heard, the trial will recess until July 22 while the judge goes on vacation.