SAN DIEGO — The jury in David Westerfield's capital murder trial will not be sequestered during deliberations despite concerns by the defense that intense media coverage may taint the panel.

Judge William Mudd ruled Friday morning that the six men and six women will spend nights and weekends at their homes, not in a downtown hotel as Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, has repeatedly requested.

Mudd said hotel accommodations were difficult to find in the city during the summer, "but the main reason is that I still think this jury can do its job."

Westerfield faces the death penalty for the February kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, his neighbor. After a two month trial, the jury is scheduled to begin weighing evidence next week.

Feldman renewed his call for sequestration Friday, citing the kidnapping of two teenage girls in Lancaster, Calif. Thursday. He noted that alerts about the abduction was flashed on signs along the freeways in San Diego. The signs were part of the California's first use of the Amber Alert system, a program in 14 states to immediately notify the community about kidnappings.

"Obviously, if you're a juror, you're going to see those things," Mudd acknowledged.

Feldman also cited television appearances by Court TV's Nancy Grace, calling her commentary "not particularly favorable to the defense" and "not particularly objective." Court TV, which is broadcasting the trial live, declined to comment on Feldman's allegations.

Mudd has urged jurors to "self-police" against watching or reading about coverage of the case and has told them several times that other high-profile kidnappings, like Elizabeth Smart's in Utah and Samantha Runnion's murder in Orange County, had nothing to do with their work.

Also Friday, Mudd made official his previous tentative ruling that the jury will only deliberate one theory of murder—felony murder during the commission of a kidnapping. The defense wanted Mudd to give jurors another option, first-degree premeditated murder. Defense lawyer Robert Boyce suggested that the second option would allow jurors to convict of kidnapping, but acquit of murder.

But Mudd said only one theory fit the evidence.

"This jury is either going to find this was a homicide in the course of a kidnapping or it wasn't," said Mudd.