Posted on 08/27/2002 8:55:29 PM PDT by dread78645
The judge in the David Westerfield case said yesterday that he has decided which prosecution witnesses will be allowed to testify at the penalty phas e of the murder trial, but he refused to be specific.
Superior Court Judge William Mudd made his announcement following a closed-door hearing with the lawyers. He didn't identify the witnesses or the nature of their testimony. He simply said some prosecution witnesses "will testify, others will not".
Westerfield was convicted last week of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. She was discovered missing from her bedroom Feb. 2; her body was found more than three weeks later in a brushy area off Dehesa Road in East County.
Tomorrow, the jury will begin hearing evidence on whether the 50-year-old Sabre Springs design engineer deserves the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Westerfield's lawyers objected to some, if not all, of the prosecution's witnesses. They also opposed airing a videotape of Danielle, which the judge will allow.
Westerfield's lawyers raised constitutional challenges to the death penalty. The judge said he will consider those arguments at a hearing today when he also is scheduled to decide whether to disallow still photography during the remainder of the trial.
The issue arose after a Union-Tribune photographer took a picture of Danielle's parents in the courtroom gallery as the jury returned its guilty verdicts.
The judge said photographer Dan Trevan violated a court rule that prohibits photographing spectators. The newspaper says the van Dams weren't spectators but witnesses who testified during the trial and who have been photographed frequently inside and outside court.
Brenda van Dam hopes to have the foundation running by Sept. 22, which would have been Danielle's eighth birthday.
"With all the other missing children, we felt there's got to be something we can do," said Susan Wintersteen, a van Dam family friend who is helping to organize the effort.
Danielle's parents are prohibited by a gag order from speaking to the news media about any issue related to their daughter until after the sentencing of David Westerfield.
A jury on Aug. 21 convicted Westerfield of kidnapping Danielle from her bedroom and killing her in February. The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday.
Brenda van Dam and five friends met over the weekend at Wintersteen's home, not far from where the girl was kidnapped, to work on the details of what is to become the Danielle Legacy Foundation.
Modeling their group on Mothers Against Drunk Driving, they plan to use the network of volunteers who helped in the search for Danielle to promote child safety and promote programs like the nationwide Amber Alert system, Wintersteen said.
The system, named in honor of Amber Hagerman, a Texas girl killed in 1996, is a way of quickly disseminating information about a missing child through news media and other outlets. It's used in more than a dozen states.
The San Diego effort follows other advocacy and safety groups born out of tragedy. They include the Laura Recovery Center, named for Laura Kate Smith, murdered in Friendswood, Texas, in 1997. The group fields volunteer searchers in child kidnapping cases.
Laura Recovery coordinated thousands of searchers after Danielle was reported missing Feb. 2. One of the volunteers found her body along a rural road nearly a month after the abduction.
Marc Klaas created the Klaaskids Foundation, after his daughter, Polly, was kidnapped and murdered in Northern California in 1993. Another group is named for Carole Sund, who was killed with her daughter, Juli, and the girl's friend Silvina Pelosso while they were visiting Yosemite National Park in 1999.
"A lot of families tend to start an organization in their loved ones memory, so there are a lot of them out there," said Kim Petersen of the Carole Sund Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, based in Modesto. "It can be very healing."
It can also be very difficult. Foundations trying to raise donations often find themselves competing with similar efforts or overshadowed by larger o rganizations, said Klaas, who lobbies, speaks on child safety and helps other groups.
Still, "There's always room for innovation, for fresh new ideas," Klaas said.
Wintersteen, whose daughter was in school and Brownies with Danielle, said one of the group's first efforts will be to distribute identification kits that parents can use to set aside their child's fingerprints, DNA and a recent photo.
Investigators had to scramble to collect such identifiers when Danielle disappeared in February.
"We still feel there is change that needs to be done," Wintersteen said.
Process of elimination...
If DW did it, there should be more physical evidence. After all, homicide is messy, as is sneaking into unfamiliar houses occupied by adults, children, and a dog late at night. There is no evidence DW did the latter, and not very much for the former.
On the other hand, if DW was framed by the real perp, then there also should be more physical evidence. Otherwise, how could the real perp be sure the cops would find the false trail?
So, what's left? Perhaps a little "evidence enhancement" by investigators already convinced they had their guy?
Shortage of Cocaine = weight gain
Kim I have treated PTS folks...they do not go to spas for massages or have botox treatments or new hair styles
They are generally fearful , angey , anxious and sometimes violent..
IF Brenda has it it is because her lesbian sex has been cut off since the event
Like you my main hang up is the lack of evidence that he abducted her..I have held pretty consistant that I think it was an "accidental" death in the home ..perhaps a fall or dad hit her to punish her..the cover up started because of the lifestyle
I do have a major problem that these parents will benefit from the death of their daughter..and that indeed they seek to benefit from it....
I was very surprised when I saw her on the stand..she is older that the Damon, and has always looked it. She looked years younger ..Botox did it
Now I have no problem with that under normal circumstances..BUT that would not be on my mind right now. I was taken back by it
Kim are you her personal publicity agent or her defense attorney?
That was rather offensive. It was also a larger leap than any professional I know would ever make
Supposing it's accurate, so what?
Not a thing I am sure she will treat that condition as soon as she can and it will go away.......a little self help
Also, that day at school, Danielle was assigned to write about her favorite memory and told her teacher she'd be writing about the time her grandmother's house in Florida was broken into. With all the toys and trips those kids enjoyed, the idea that that was her favorite, most memorable memory, certainly raised a red flag in my mind.
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