Westerfield Closings Set For Tuesday, 8-6-2002: More Revelations Continue "Out" Of Jurors Sight!

USA "Homeland Security" but not for Children

by
Miroslava Flores
La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California - 6/7/2002 - (ACN) What would be the worst nightmare for a child or for parents of young children in America? Having a stranger come at night into the bedroom of your baby daughter and snatching her away, never to see her alive again, would certainly rank as one of the worst. Two such cases have occurred in America this year alone. All of us are also familiar with the Polly Klass case in 1992 and of what happened to 6 year old JonBenét Ramsey one Christmas night in 1996. What will a multi-billion dollar USA "Homeland Security" cabinet level department do for the security of children? Not much I think! Children in America will be increasingly taking it "on the chin" because it seems that the real enemy is not from without, but from within. Who is this enemy?

Aside from the thousands of child abductions, murders and rapes each year in America, the one currently in the news in San Diego, California, exemplifies best who this enemy really is. This is the case of 7 year old Danielle van Dam who was "supposedly" snatched from her upstairs bedroom on the night of February 1 while her parents were having a drug crazed orgy downstairs with two men and two women the mother had brought back home from a local bar at 2:00 in the morning. One of the men the mom brought home from the bar is a drug dealer, according to ongoing court testimony. The body of little Danielle was found dumped besides a road not far from the home on February 28. The body was badly decomposed and an initial report said that it had been "burned", a practice common in Satanic rituals. Also, four of her front teeth were missing, another Satanic practice in the performance of "fellatio" by a young child.

The police did not arrest or charge any of the persons who participated in sex-drug parties at the van Dam's but a neighbor who lives two houses down by the name of David Westerfield. The trial is presently underway in the downtown San Diego Superior Court. David Westerfield has pleaded not guilty and is literally fighting for his life because a conviction can mean the death penalty.

The trial began on Monday and already the testimonies of mom and dad, Damon and Brenda Van Dam, have said volumes of who the enemy in America really is. Damon van Dam, the father of the child victim, admitted Wednesday that he initially lied to police officers about what went on at the family's home the night his daughter disappeared – and that he had previously had sex with two of the women who were there.

Damon van Dam testified that he didn't tell investigators that he had taken drugs with the women and his wife prior to all three women leaving for the bar to pick up men. He testified that he previously had sex with the two women and that he was in bed with one of them, Barbara Easton, hours before Danielle was discovered missing.

"You lied to the police, isn't that true?" van Dam was asked by Steven Feldman, the lead defense attorney for suspect David Westerfield.

"Up to the point they told me the gravity of the situation, yes," van Dam said.

Steven Feldman, Westerfield's defense attorney, stated in his opening statement Tuesday that someone else known to the van Dams could have kidnapped Danielle – someone who'd previously become familiar with the layout of their house and the location of Danielle's bedroom and who'd become friendly with the family dog that did not bark at all during the night Danielle was "supposedly" abducted.

Steven Feldman questioned Damon and Brenda van Dam Wednesday about failing to tell police about just how intimate he and his wife had been with Barbara Easton, Denise Kemal, Rich Brady and another man who had come home with Brenda after partying at a nearby bar that Friday night till 2:00 in the morning. Damon van Dam admitted to having previously had sex with Easton "in the presence of his wife" and with Kemal at the van Dam residence in the presence of Brenda – and Kemal's husband. Westerfield's attorneys have argued that the van Dams were irresponsible parents and that their daughter could have been killed by any number of people the couple attracted into their perverted lives.

A day after Steven Feldman questioned Damon van Dam about the couple's sexual and drug habits, he did the same with Brenda van Dam, asking whether she had sex with her friends Barbara Easton and Denise Kemal and their husbands. She acknowledged that she had. She later admitted that she and her husband had sex with Kemal and Kemal's husband, Andy, during a Halloween Ghouls' Party in October of 2000 at their home while the children were asleep upstairs. Having orgies on the night of Holloween is another Satanic practice.

What is the connection to David Westerfield in all of this? According to Brenda van Dam, Westerfield was a neighbor she sometimes waved to in the street. A year ago she and Danielle went to his house and sold him "Girl Scout" cookies. She had virtually no contact with him again until Jan. 25, when she ran into him at the bar where she was with Easton and Kemal, her two sexmates. The trio had taken drugs that night before heading to the bar, where they happened to spot Westerfield, who bought them a round of drinks. They had little more contact with him before leaving that night.

The following Tuesday, Brenda van Dam, her daughter and 5-year-old son went to Westerfield's house selling Girl Scout cookies "again". He invited them in, and she asked to see his remodeled kitchen. While her son and daughter went to his back yard to look at the pool and wandered around the property, Westerfield, who is a divorcee asked her whether she would be willing to introduce him to her female friends. She said she might be going to the bar that Friday night but would need to get a baby sitter because her husband was planning a trip away from home. This is also when, Steven Feldman argues, Danielle may have left some of her hairs on Westerfield's property the prosecution is using as evidence.

By Friday night, the night of the abduction, Damon van Dam had canceled his trip and planned to stay home with the couple's three children while Brenda went out with her two sexmates.

Easton and Kemal arrived at the van Dam's home in the early evening, and the three had drugs in the garage. They also drank alcohol, according to their testimony. At 8:30 p.m. the three women headed off to the bar in nearby town of Poway , where they once again ran into David Westerfield, who again bought them drinks.

The three women later ran into two male acquaintances with names of Rich and Keith. The five played pool and danced all night, leaving the bar at one point to smoke marijuana in Brenda van Dam's sport-utility vehicle. By closing time at 2:00 in the morning, Brenda van Dam said she had consumed four alcoholic beverages – three vodkas with cranberry juice and a shot of tequila. One of the men, who is a drug dealer said he had some "special pills'" (perhaps Ecstasy) and wanted to "hook up" with Barbara Easton, according to the mom, Brenda Van Dam.

The three women headed back to the van Dam's house with the two men they picked up at the bar. The five entered the house about 2:15 a.m. Barbara Easton went upstairs at one point and got in bed with Damon van Dam. Eventually they joined the others downstairs to commence their drug crazed party while, according to mom and dad, little Danielle was safe and sound in her upstairs bedroom.

At about 2:40 a.m., the two women and two men left and the couple went to bed. In testimony, Damon van Dam said he awoke an hour or so later, saw a flashing alarm light and discovered a sliding glass door open downstairs. He said he closed it and went back to sleep. The next morning, Danielle never came down for breakfast. Her mother went upstairs and discovered that the door to Danielle's room was open and the bed was empty.

In court, Steven Feldman, Westerfield's defense attorney, stated that the three women were dancing so provocatively at the bar that night and the previous week that strange men began gravitating toward them. Brenda Van Dam admitted telling her friends on the night of Jan. 25, "You guys, you're probably making everybody in this place excited. . . . You probably realize that every man in this bar is probably paying attention to you." A witness testified that he saw Barbara Easton fondled Brenda van Dam's breasts while they were dancing.

So who really is the enemy that is more threatening to children and the future of America than any terrorist attack from the outside? Can so call "Homeland Security" protect our children and the rest of us from this enemy from within. Allow me to point in the direction of the real enemy.

If you listen to the mainstream media concerning the Danielle van Dam case, you will definitely get an idea as who the enemy might be. The mainstream media is depicting Brenda van Dam as a "Soccer Mom" who cared so much for her little girl that she would help her sell "Girl Scouts" cookies in the neighborhood. Perhaps the mainstream media is doing it because, like Cardinal Roger Mahoney in dealing with the homosexual pedophile attacks on altar boys, the van Dam's hired a PR firm. Money and greed is certainly only part of the larger complex that points to the real enemy.

This morning through the Michael Eisner KABC 790 AM radio station in Los Angeles, radio talk host Gloria Allred said that Brenda van Dam was a good mother and that her lifestyle had nothing to do with the murder of her daughter. This is very disturbing because it appears that she actually believes it. Gloria Allred is also a big time supporter of the homosexual lifestyle and participates in West Hollywood's annual "Gay Pride" parades. She was joyous that Jerusalem, Israel will be hosting its very first "Gay Pride Parade" and has defended the play Corpus Cristus" by Jewish playwright Terrence McNally in which he portrays Jesus as the "King of Queers" who has sex with the disciples . No she is not a lesbian, as far as she has admitted, but she is Jewish. The Jewish dominated mainstream media has contributed immensely to the corruption of America's morals that culminate eventually in the horrendous crimes against children. We are all familiar with the perverted antics of Jewish "shock jockey" Howard Stern and the "moral sewer" that flows daily through your living room through the Jerry Springer Show. Jerry Springer is of course another Jew that cares not how many children he may corrupt through his programming. The mainstream and influential media, however, is also just part of the larger complex that points to the real enemy.

The real enemy can be sensed by watching the faces on video of Damon and Brenda van Dam when asked point blank about their drug use and sex orgies at home with people they pick up at bars. They answered as if nothing is wrong with it. "So what . . . doesn't everyone do it?", is what seemed to go through their minds. Here is the crux of the American problem and something that a multi-billion "Homeland Security" cabinet level department can never save us from. The USA has lost its moral bearings and may be headed towards the same fate as that of the ancient Roman Empire. There are now signs of deep spiritual and moral decay. The signs are Enron type corporate greed, Catholic Church homosexual pedophilia, LAPD and New York police corruption, high level politicians on the take, complicity in the drug trade of high level government officials, the Bill Clinton Lewinsky and Pardongate scandals, and the murderous foreign policies against the Palestinians among others. These are but a few examples that are taking America to the brink of disaster.

America's moral and spiritual decay is unfortunately having the worst effects on the most innocent and vulnerable, the children. Just this week, three extremely disturbing cases are making the news. The first is the Danielle van Dam case which we described above. The second is the abduction from her bedroom of 14 year old Elizabeth Smart of Salt Lake City. Elizabeth Smart vanished Wednesday around 2:00 A.M. when a man with a gun entered her bedroom and took her away, according to her younger sister who was in the same bedroom. The police are baffled and no trace of Elizabeth has been found in three days. After this length of time, the probabilities is that she is dead. The Elizabeth Smart case as well as the Danielle van Dam case and the third described below, all occurred in upscale homes. Elizabeth's home is on the market for $1.9 million and the Holmby mansion decribed below is worth no less than $3 million.

The third recent case occurred just this past Sunday in a Holmby Hills mansion in the Los Angeles area. A 7 year old boy disappeared from a swimming pool birthday party. Paolo Ayala had been invited by his well to do classmate from Rodeo Elementary in Beverly Hills . Paolo's humble parents who live in a one bedroom apartment dropped little Paolo Ayala early in the afternoon at the mansion where ten adults were supervising. When the parents returned at 5:00 P.M, they could not locate Paolo. The LAPD was called in and close to one hundred police officers started conducting a through search on foot, with helicopters and with canine units.

Police officers as well as detectives did a thorough search of the mansion, the swimming pool and surrounding areas on Sunday and all day Monday. Early Tuesday morning, a swimming pool maintenance company came by to clean the swimming pool. At around 8:30 A.M. the housekeeper found the body of little Paolo Ayala at the bottom of the pool. She screamed and called 911.

"At this time it appears that at some time during the evening or early morning hours somebody placed that body in the swimming pool," Deputy Chief David Kalish said. "There is no way that boy's body was there yesterday." "This swimming pool was searched obviously throughout the day yesterday and through the night last night," Kalish said. Police left the home about 10 p.m. Monday.

On Wednesday, however, the death of little Paolo Ayala was declared an accidental drowning and a theory about some kind of optical illusion is being disseminated by the mainstream media. They are saying that the detectives, policeman, firemen and countless adults were fooled by some kind of milky substance at the bottom of the pool that hid the body from view. The deepest part of the pool is only 9 feet deep and many swear they could clearly see all the way to the bottom of the "sky blue" colored pool. It looks like in America, money has more worth than the life of a 7 year old boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Did the owners of the mansion hire a PR firm as well?

Yesterday, the entire nation heard the words of President Bush concerning the establishment of a US Department of Homeland Security. Will "USDHS" also be securing children? Will it be securing all the children who are being murdered or raped by priests, neighbors, friends, and yes even their own parents?

The Trial of David Westerfield for the Abduction and Murder of Danielle van Dam

by Bill Bickel

Danielle's photo
distributed by family

About Poll

How will David Westerfield's trial end?

He'll be found guilty and sentenced to death

He'll be found guilty and sentenced to life in prison

Mistrial or hung jury

He'll be found not guilty

Current Results

You're discussing this
case in the Crime
Forum, here

This was About/Crime's
Poll of the Day
June 4, 2002

This poll was rebooted
July 29, 2002

Damon and Brenda van
Dam: Danielle's parents

David Westerfield:
Accused of abducting
and murdering
Danielle

Judge William Mudd

Jeff Dusek:
Deputy District Attorney

Steven Feldman:
Westerfield's attorney

Missing Children and
Adults: An About/
Crime list, with
photos and contact
information, of
missing children
and adults who have
not gotten national
media attention

Elizabeth's photo
distributed by family

Elizabeth Smart: Salt Lake City
teenager abducted from her
bedroom at gunpoint, June 5,
2002.

Rachel's photo
distributed by family

Rachel Cooke: Disappeared while jogging January 10, 2002,
Georgetown, Texas (just north of Austin)

Jahi's photo
distributed by family

Jahi Turner: San Diego
2-year-old, missing from
Balboa Park, April 25, 2002

Mikelle's photo
distributed by family

Mikelle Biggs: Missing since
January 2, 1999

Sabrina Aisenberg: Missing since November 24, 1997

Missing Children and Adults:
An About/Crime resource list

Missing Children: An updated
list kept by the Polly Klaas
Foundation

Child Watch of North America
NCMEC (National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children)

The Other Missing Kids: What
happens when a child's
disappearance doesn't get any
media attention?

Whose Kid is Important?
Why some missing children
get media attention and some
don't

Protecting Your Child From Abduction: including a section
of information for children

A Look at Other Recent
California Cases of Stranger
Abduction (with statistics)

Why the Murder Charge
Against David Westerfield
Could Carry the Death
Penalty

We've also got special
Background-and-Updates
pages about these cases:

Michael Skakel/
Martha Moxley
Abner Louima
Robert Blake/ Bonny
Lee Bakley
Christine Wilhelm
Daniel Pearl
Chandra Levy
Crocker Bank Robbery
Zacarias Moussaoui
Richard Reid
Mumia abu-Jamal
James Bulger
Xiana Fairchild
Andrea Yates
Kathleen Soliah/
Sara Jane Olson

Information and updates about the search for Danielle van Dam
(February 2 through February 28, 2002) are here

Information and updates about the weeks leading up to David Westerfield's trial
(February 28 through May 30, 2002) are here

Background:

Early in the morning of February 2, 2002, 7-year-old Danielle van Dam disappeared from her bedroom in her San Diego (California) home.
Within a couple of days, David Westerfield, a neighbor, emerged as the only non-family suspect: On the morning of Danielle's disappearance, he'd driven out to the nearby desert.
Westerfield was arrested on February 22 and charged with murder, kidnapping, and possession of child pornography on February 26.
On February 27, Danielle's body was found in the desert. The condition of the body made it impossible to determine the time and manner of her death, or whether she'd been molested.
Based on the fact that some of Danielle's teeth appeared to have been knocked out, the prosecution believes she suffocated by having something stuffed into her mouth
Westerfield could face the death penalty if convicted.

Update: August 5
The defense announced it will call no more witnesses, so closing arguments will begin when the trial resumes tomorrow morning. The judge turned down the defense's request to have the jury sequestered, as well as the defense request to allow the jury the option of deciding that Danielle was accidentally killed in her bedroom (eliminating the kidnapping element).

Update: August 1
The defense, beginning their "counter-rebuttal", brought in another forensic entomologist, who backed up the testimony of the other defense entomologists. This article explains in detail how he arrived at his conclusions, and sums up what the San Diego Union-Tribune calls "The Battle of the Bug Experts".
The judge and lawyers will discuss jury instructions tomorrow, and the trial itself will resume Tuesday (August 6)
Follow-up:
The Union-Tribune discusses the obvious: The David Westerfield jury has heard a great deal more about insects than they have any patience for.

Update: July 30
The prosecution's final rebuttal witness was a forensic entomologist who testified -- for what it's worth -- that Danielle's body was been left outside anywhere between February 1 and February 12. Danielle was reported missing on February 2 and Westerfield was under police surveillance from February 5. Essentially, this prosecution witness said that the prosecution's contention (that Westerfield disposed of Danielle's body between February 2 and February 5) could be correct, but the defense's contention (that the body was left by somebody else after February 5) could also be correct. Why the prosecution chose to conclude its case with expert testimony that increased "reasonable doubt" is a bit of a mystery.
Some clarification of sorts: The prosecution entomologist also pointed out that the defense entomologist had errors in his data -- but a previous prosecution witness had already contradicted the defense entomologist's conclusions, so the net result of this final witness has to be a boost to the defense's reasonable doubt argument.

Update: July 29
"The only way the girl gets into the possession of Mr. Westerfield is by kidnapping" -Judge William Mudd

Judge Mudd denied a defense request that the jury be given the option of finding David Westerfield guilty of murder but not of kidnapping.

Why on Earth would they even make such an odd request?

Well, it could be a matter of life or death: This article doesn't explain it, but California law only allows for the death penalty under special circumstances. In the Yosemite Park murders, Cary Stayner faces the death penalty because he kidnapped his victims. In Bonnie Lee Bakley's murder, Robert Blake could have faced the death penalty because he'd been "lying in wait". The kidnapping and sexual abuse charges would "qualify" Westerfield.

Proving sexual abuse to the certainty that a jury would sentence Westerfield to death is nearly impossible with a decomposed body. If the defense pretty much concedes that Westerfield committed the murder, but Danielle had sleepwalked out of the house (she appears to have had a history of sleepwalking), Westerfield could escape Death Row.

Update: July 29
No testimony today in David Westerfield's trial, as the judge and attorneys discuss jury instructions and closing arguments.

Update: July 25
The prosecution brought in, as a rebuttal witness, a forensic anthropologist who contradicted the testimony of a defense entomologist who'd testified that Danielle's body was probably left in the desert after February 12 (which would clear Westerfield, since he'd been under constant surveillance since February 5). The above-linked article is probably as graphic as it needs to be.

After all rebuttal testimony is complete, the defense will have an opportunity to present counter-rebuttal.

Update: July 24
The defense rests its case -- without Westerfield ever testifying -- and the prosecution begins its rebuttal case with Westerfield's son, who denies his father's suggestion he was responsible for the pornography on his father's computer

Update: July 23
No testimony today: Instead, a hearing was held to discuss witnesses the prosecution intends to call when its rebuttal case begins later this week.

Update: July 22
As David Westerfield's trial resumed today, the judge instructed the jurors to "ignore" the Samantha Runnion case

Update: July 12
According to a just-released police affidavit, Westerfield told police, while the search for Danielle was ongoing, that the desert would be "a great place to dump a body".
Also: Denise Kemal, the flight attendant who testified that she'd smoked marijuana with Damon and Brenda van Dam, was fired once her airline learned she'd violated their strict anti-drug policy

Update: July 11
Judge Mudd has granted a petition by Damon van Dam to be allowed back into the courtroom when the trial resumes July 22 after a one-week recess (for Judge Mudd's family vacation)

Update: July 10
An entomologist testified that, based on the insect activity on Danielle's body (click the article for more graphic details), it had probably been left in the desert 10 to 12 days before being found (meaning somebody other than David Westerfield must have left her body there) -- but he stressed this was only an estimate, because insect activity was unusually low in February, so this period of time should be thought of as a minimum.

Update: July 9
Two defense witnesses testify, in effect, that it wouldn't have been impossible for neighborhood children such as Danielle to have entered Westerfield's motor home by themselves.
Update: A forensic scientist working for the San Diego PD was recalled by the prosecution today after having completed a comparison between fibers found in David Westerfield's motorhome and fibers found in the blanket used to wrap Danielle's body. They matched.
More details about the fiber testimony

Update: July 8
"She was rubbing herself all over him" -Patricia LaPage, defense witness
Two witnesses testify that Brenda van Dam had been "dirty dancing" with David Westerfield hours before Danielle disappeared.
Update: July 8
This week, the defense is expected to bring in a forensic entomologist to testify that Danielle's body had been out in the open for too short a time for Westerfield to have been responsible (Danielle disappeared February 2; Westerfield was under constant police surveillance as of February 4)

Update: July 3
The defense introduces evidence to suggest the child pornography might actually have belonged to Westerfield's son
Update: Two defense witnesses testify about Brenda van Dam's sexual lifestyle, and contradict her claim that she avoided David Westerfield (Brenda had said she'd found him "creepy")

A summary of the pornography-related testimony

Update: July 2
The prosecution might conclude its case today. When the defense begins, look for Damon and Brenda van Dam's lifestyles to be heavily discussed.
Update: The prosecution rested and the defense opened with a neighbor of Westerfield's who testified that Westerfield's motor home was often left unlocked (making it possible for Danielle to have wandered in at any time)

Update: July 1
Closed-door hearings today, as the lawyers and judge discussed a number of issues, including whether the prosecution can call one more witness.
Defense attorney Steven Feldman has said that if the prosecution doesn't call a forensic entomologist -- a specialist in determining facts about a crime scene based on the interaction of insects -- the defense will. He contends that Danielle was killed after police had placed Westerfield under round-the-clock surveillance.

Forensic Entomology

Update: June 27
"I'm not in charge of the press getting it right ... If the media here got it wrong, then their editors should take them out and give them a new job, covering weddings or something" -Judge William Mudd
The defense asked the judge to either sequester the jury or declare a mistrial, citing the enormous amount of publicity the trial has generated (including media account that have been less than accurate). The judge turned down the request.

It should be remembered that the defense chose to push for an early trial and not to ask for a change of venue, reasoning that the backlash against the van Dams would work in their favor.

That being said, this is the sort of publicity that led to Sam Sheppard's conviction (for the 1954 murder of his wife that -- in part -- inspired television's The Fugitive) to be overturned.

The judge also ruled that Westerfield's bestiality photos would not be admitted into evidence, though the jury was not ordered to disregard having heard about them.

A complete overview of the Sam Sheppard case

Update: June 26
A police computer forensics expert, testifying for the prosecution, conceded under cross-examaination that he couldn't say for certain who had created or downloaded the child pornography or when -- and, for that matter, he couldn't guarantee that the images were actually those of children
The jurors were scheduled to tour Westerfield's motor home later today.
More: DNA analysis confirmed that a blonde hair found in Westerfield's motor home was Danielle's (technically, there's a 1-in-25,0000,000,000,000,000 or 1-in-25 quadrillion chance that it's not)

Virtual Child Pornography: If no child is actually used in its creation, should it be illegal?

Update: June 25
"As a father I can certainly appreciate the disdain to which you must hold Mr. Westerfield and his counsel. The fact is, however, you represent a security risk at this point in time" -Judge William Mudd, barring Damon van Dam from the entire floor on which David Westerfield's trial is being held, after Danielle's father raised suspicions by asking questions about how Westerfield was being transported.
Today's testimony included fiber evidence and a look at Westerfield's child pornography collection.
More: When defense attorney Steven Feldman makes a mistake, it's a doozy: Judge Mudd was originally going to allow the prosecution to introduce a small amount of Westerfield's collection -- but when Feldman tried to give the jury the impression that this was all Westerfield had had in his possession, Mudd allowed the introduction of several additional binders full of material ("You've represented.. that there's just 13 images that can be found against your client... Believe it or not, this is a search for the truth"). At least two jurors were moved to tears.

Update: June 24
Testimony: Hair similar to Danielle's was found in Westerfield's bed. The prosecution has not yet established whether DNA testing has confirmed that it's Danielle's.

Update: June 20
A criminalist testified that three spots on the jacket David Westerfield took to the cleaners shortly after Danielle's disappearance were indeed blood. The prosecution did not ask him whether the blood had been determined to have been Danielle's. He also testified having found blood on a beanbag, though the blood wasn't human (the significance of this might become apparent sometime in the future). He also described finding hair and fibers on a comforter Westerfield brought to the cleaners, a pair of Westerfield's boxer shorts, and a blanket found in Danielle's room.
More: A DNA expert discussing bloodstains on David Westerfield's jacket and on the carpet of his motor home estimated the odds that they weren't Danielle's as 1-in-130,000,000,000,000,000 and 1-in-670,000,000,000,000,000 (those are quadrillions).

Update: June 19
Evidence gathered from Westerfield's home and exhibited today included laundry, videotapes and lubricant
Update: A forensics expert testified that he's absolutely certain" that fingerprints found in Westerfield's motor home are those of Danielle van Dam

Update: June 18
The prosecution produced a shopping list written by David Westerfield, on which he'd written "bleach". Investigators had smelled bleach in Westerfield's garage and motorhome, and the prosecution is suggesting that Westerfield had used the bleach to destroy evidence. They offer no explanation of what Westerfield might have used the Mountain Dew, Pepsi, rum, dryer sheets, eggs and mouthwash for.
Update: Short, dark hairs, which could have been Westerfield's, were found on Danielle's body. A forensics specialist testified she found "possible blood stains" at various places in Westerfield's house.

Update: June 17
Physical evidence was discussed in David Westerfield's trial today: The prosecution offered testimony about clothing and bedding Westerfield brought in to be dry cleaned two days after Danielle disappeared, but the employees he dealt with -- who described Westerfield as seeming "tired" and "distant", conceded under cross-examination that they'd seen no trace of blood on the items. There was also testimony about how much Westerfield spent on gas over 3 days (about $164), and where he did and didn't drive.

Update: June 13
Testimony from three park rangers about the day after Danielle disappeared:

Insignificant: Westerfield appeared agitated, and accidentally overpaid his camping fees
Significant: When Westerfield paid, he took the money out of his wallet -- the same wallet he later told investigators he'd left at home

Part of the defense theory is that Danielle must have wandered into Westerfield's motorhome by herself at some point. A prosecution witness today said that in the years she'd lived in the neighborhood, she'd hardly ever seen children under the age of 10 playing outside without adult supervision.

Update: June 12
Today, the jury heard a tape of a police interview of Westerfield, in which he described his trip the morning after Danielle disappeared and, at one point, said "this little place we were at" [italics mine], rather than "this little place I was at". The evidentiary value of this slip is questionable, but the prosecution thought it worth presenting.

Update: June 11
The Garden Hose:
San Diego police detective Johnny Keene testified about speaking with Westerfield after Danielle's disappearance and just before Westerfield left the area in his motor home. Keene noticed that, although the rest of the Westerfield home was immaculate, the garden hose was unrolled and strewn across the property. In his opening argument, lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek had pointed to this as a sign that Westerfield felt he'd had to leave in a hurry.
More of Keene's observations about Westerfield: "I noticed that he was sweating profusely from under his arms" and Westerfield was "overly cooperative".

Update: June 10
"He was very quiet and weird. He was creepy. He didn't say anything at all" -Denise Kemel, referring to David Westerfield on the night of February 1
Brenda van Dam's friends describe Brenda's "girl's night out", the night Danielle disappeared. The defense stresses the fact that one of the friends and her husband had had sexual relations with Damon and Brenda.

Kemel testified that the following day, after Danielle's disappearance, she spoke to David Westerfield and he mentioned having left the club at 9pm -- but she'd seen him there around 10pm.

Update: June 7
No testimony today. This article recaps what Brenda said yesterday.

Update: June 6
Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, testified about her encounters with David Westerfield, including walking away from him once at a local bar. The county medical examiner testified that Danielle had been dead for at least 10 days and -- as this article states -- "potentially up to six weeks" (an odd comment for anybody to make, since Danielle had been missing for 3 1/2 weeks before her body was found). He also conceded that, although evidence clearly indicated a homicide, there was no way to positively determine the manner of death or whether Danielle had been sexually assaulted.
And, of course, Brenda answered some explicit questions about her own sex life
More: The jury listened to the 9-1-1 tape.

Update: June 5
Damon van Dam, Danielle's father, testified that he barely knew David Westerfield, and they'd never been in one anther's houses (for what it's worth, there are reports that Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, was dancing with Westerfield the night Danielle was abducted)
More: Damon admitted he'd withheld information about that night from the police: specifically, that he'd been smoking marijuana at home and had been "snuggling in bed" with one of his wife's friends (apparently they weren't actually having sexual relations that night, though they had in the past)

Opening Arguments: June 4
The prosecution discussed the physical evidence (Danielle's hair found in Westerfield's sink, fiber similarities that were not fully explained in the opening statement), while the defense stressed the van Dams' lifestyle and pointed out that all manner of people were in and out of their home on a regular basis.

The prosecution then called a neighbor who described the search for Danielle, and two volunteers who found her body.

Update: June 3
The prosecutor revealed why hair found in Westerfield's sink is significant: DNA analysis showed that it belonged to either Brenda van Dam or one of her three children, but Brenda dyed her hair and her sons' hair was too short. Westerfield suggested that Danielle could have wandered into his home at any time, which could explain why her hair and drops of blood were found there -- but Danielle had gotten a haircut just days before her disappearance, and the hair found was consistent with the length of her hair after it was cut, severely narrowing the period of time the "wandering" could have occurred.

Just for you Ill-Manners....

San Diego Swings

The murder of little Danielle van Dam brought “swinging” into the spotlight. Log on to the World Wide Web, type in “San Diego” and “swingers” on the Yahoo search, and you get 6,160 hits. That’s more than “San Diego” in combination with “hiking trails” (2,570), “car clubs” (772) or “pet lovers” (359)—though not as many as “golfers” (7,430) or “Republicans” (18,900).

By Thomas K. Arnold

Club Paradise, according to its Web site, “is situated in the back hills of the El Cajon Valley, nestled in a secluded, yet easy to access area.” The facility offers a “high-class, home-party style environment” and boasts “5,000 square feet of fun, including a swimming pool, spa and backyard fire pit to socialize with your new friends while warming your erogenous zones.”

Guests are “welcome to bring some goodies (besides your wife)”—and once their erogenous zones are sufficiently warmed, they may choose from “plenty of play areas ... most prefer the living room floor or kitchen, but [private] rooms are always available.”

Club CB is an on-line club “providing a safe meeting place for sensuous consenting adults.” Member parties promise “the hottest couples, the best facilities, very tasty buffet dinners, scrumptious desserts and a staff dedicated to ensuring your experience is clean, fun and safe.”

Club CB party organizers boast they specialize in “stirring up erotic sensations and placing our members in the ideal environment to meet and expand friendships with the most exciting people in San Diego County ... all while raising funds for local charity foundations contributing to the research for multiple sclerosis and other debilitating diseases.”

Welcome to the wonderful—and apparently charitable—world of swinging, San Diego style.

Tony Lanzaratta, a retired Los Angeles police officer who, as executive director of NASCA International, probably has a better handle on swinging than anyone else in the country, stops short of saying San Diego is a hotbed for what he calls “play couples.”

“It’s impossible to chart,” Lanzaratta says. “But I travel a lot, and I know one thing: I meet a lot of people from San Diego.”

He says there are half a dozen organized swing clubs in San Diego County, some in private homes and some in commercial buildings. None is openly marked. “San Diego is a very conservative city,” he says, “so you just can’t do that.”

But even the local presence of half a dozen organized swing clubs—most of them with Web sites rivaling those of ritzy desert resorts—is no barometer for how many San Diegans actually participate in what Lanzaratta and other swingers call “the lifestyle.” According to the official NASCA Web site, that lifestyle is defined as follows:

“Swinging is social and sexual intercourse with someone other than your mate, boyfriend or girlfriend, excepting the traditional one-on-one dating. It may be defined as recreational social sex. The activity may occur at a swing party, a couple-to-couple encounter, a liaison or with a third person in a threesome. Though single men and women are involved, it is primarily an activity of couples.”

“A lot of people just have little neighborhood get-togethers in their homes, five or six couples who go for it,” Lanzaratta says. “The thing is, people are not card-carrying swingers; they don’t necessarily have to belong to clubs or even frequent parties. People don’t call up and say, ‘We’re with the Rand Corporation; are you swingers?’ So many people keep it hidden.”

NASCA originally stood for North American Swing Club Association, but now goes solely by its acronym. That’s because membership in the loosely knit, Orange County–based confederation of swing clubs now extends beyond North America—and Lanzaratta and other practitioners of “the lifestyle” believe the term “swing” has become dated.

“‘Swinging’ is not really a favored term anymore,” Lanzaratta says. “Swinging kind of connotes 1950s wife-swapping crap. It has little to do with that, and that’s why lifestyle organizations prefer to use the term ‘play couple.’”

Call it what you will—swinging is big news these days, and all because of a vivacious, bright-eyed little girl who was snatched from her home, brutally murdered and then dumped in East County.

The Danielle van Dam kidnapping and murder case has gripped San Diegans from the time the 7-year-old was first discovered to be missing from her Sabre Springs home in early February. It has also pushed into the spotlight—or shoved under the microscope—what had previously been one of San Diego’s salacious little secrets: the thriving local “swinging” scene in which the dead girl’s parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, were involved.

From the time KFMB Radio talk-show host Rick Roberts first brought up rumors of the van Dams’ mate-swapping lifestyle, there’s been a collective finger-wagging of disapproval—and also a collective curiosity about the phenomenon.

During the murder trial of David Westerfield, defense attorney Steven Feldman tried to convince jurors that swinging may have opened the van Dams’ doors—figuratively and literally—to all sorts of perverts who could have made off with and later killed Danielle. Early in the trial, he even tried to question Brenda van Dam about what he called “sex parties,” but Judge William Mudd stopped the grieving mother from answering broad questions about her sex life because he deemed them “irrelevant.”

No wonder, then, that local swingers are becoming increasingly gun-shy.

“It seems that the San Diego media are finally waking up to alternative lifestyles about 50 years late and for all the wrong reasons, i.e., the van Dams,” Jay, who operates the Free Body, Mind & Spirit Society, one of San Diego’s swing clubs, wrote in an e-mail, replying to a query. “Our membership is composed of mostly late arrivals from the rest of the world. They are quite aware that they now reside in the epicenter of geekocracy and therefore do not wish any publicity. Nobody likes to find burning crosses on their front lawns.”

Lanzaratta, too, decries the spotlight directed toward the San Diego swinging scene by the van Dam case. “It’s too bad there was this sudden interest in the lifestyle because a crime was committed,” he says. “The lifestyle, from what I’ve seen and heard, has nothing to do with the crime. These are everyday couples, and the suspect in this case is not a couple, is he? He’s a single male. So where is this thing coming from? I’m sure the defense is going to use this [the van Dams’ connection to swinging] and say they are unfit parents and all that B.S., but that’s a bunch of crap. They’re just trying to latch onto anything at all. I can’t fault the attorneys, because that’s their job, but for everybody else to jump on the bandwagon is just crazy.”

Lanzaratta’s indignation underscores the basic philosophy that seems to be embraced by most swingers: What they are doing is perfectly normal—and besides, what goes on behind closed doors between two (or more) consenting adults is nobody’s damn business.

“Eighty percent of the human world population is polygamous, so maybe the monogamists are freaks,” claims Jay. “We swingers all seem to feel completely healthy.”

(Jay’s comments aren’t entirely accurate. He might be referring to the legality of polygamy, not the practice. According to the polygamypage.info Web site, “In most of the world polygamy is an acceptable social practice and is never a crime. In much of the Western world, including Britain and most of the United States, the practice of polygamy is not illegal. As long as the marriages are not registered with the state, there is no offense, although there is also hardly any legal recognition of the relationship. In a few states, the bigamy law is used together with a ‘common-law marriage’ law to define polygamy as illegal. These laws also tend to make same-sex partnerships and cohabitation by unmarried couples illegal as well.”)

From the NASCA International Web site: “People who swing come from all economic levels. Every job classification, all races and nationalities are represented, though the majority are Caucasian, middle to upper-middle socio-economic class, and married. Swingers ... tend to be adventuresome, emotionally mature and have excellent relationships with their mates and friends. ... Many single women have joined swing clubs, finding them a refreshing alternative to the traditional bar scene.”

Lanzaratta, 52, a proud swinger for 14 years, says that definition really says it all. Sex is just part of the lifestyle, he maintains.

“It’s first and foremost social, with a capital S,” he says. “Now, what these people do after they meet other couples is between them, but 40 percent to 50 percent never take it to the next step, which is sex. It’s a place to go to be social with like-minded people, but certainly not just to get laid.”

Typical swingers, Lanzaratta says, tend to be baby boomer couples in their 40s or 50s with time and money to travel. The annual Lifestyles convention, which used to be here in San Diego but is now held in Las Vegas or Reno, draws upwards of 6,000 attendees each year, he says.

“They are factory workers and firemen and store clerks and bankers and doctors and newscasters,” Lanzaratta says. “It’s a total cross-section of whatever middle America or normal America is. It’s couples looking for a social outlet. They’re tired of theater and dinner and $100 nightclubs. They want to go to clubs where they can meet and socialize with nice couples, with no lecherous singles stuff or pickup scene. It’s not a meat market; people who go to our clubs have no requirement to do anything.”

Of course, if they do choose to do anything of a sexual nature, he says, “they’ve got privacy, anonymity and the company of other couples.

“Sex is certainly a big part of it,” Lanzaratta concedes, “but it’s not the only thing.”

Sampling of classified advertising on the Internet indicates that sex may be a bigger part of “the lifestyle” for some swingers than the ones with whom Lanzaratta is familiar. Here are some ads from San Diego swingers pulled off www.e-MacDaddy.com, a portal for adult sites:

From Dan: “Hi, I’m a good-looking and athletic male, looking to be a sex toy. I am putting myself out [for] any kind of adventure. 3somes or anything, I’m game. I’m disease and drug free and expect the same.”

From Twoofus: “Me and my wife are looking for a couple to swing with or a party to go to. Is there a good place to just sleep with many people at once? Any info would be helpful or another young attractive couple like ourselves that would be interested would be great.”

From Shon: “Wife and I are looking for a partner to join up for a night. Male or female. If male wifey says must be big. ... Females must be in shape, nice body. No skinny model chicks!”

From SD and NW: “We have been in the San Diego area a little over a year and we are interested in making new friends. We are interested in the swinger lifestyle. We are willing and able to try anything once and we would like to experience this lifestyle. We are a married (wife is bi) couple with no children. We are both clean and in good health. If we sound interesting to you, please e-mail us and we would like to meet you for dinner or just a coffee out. PLEASE NO BI OR GAY MEN.”

So how does one go about joining a swing club? Lanzaratta says that regardless of whether a “lifestyle club” has a physical headquarters or consists of parties held in various places, the mechanism is the same. It all starts with an interview.

“You contact them via phone or e-mail and then they talk to you, talk to the [partner], have you come into an office and meet you in person,” he explains. “They sit you both down and interview you to make sure both of you are on board with this. There have been instances in which the guy dupes the woman into doing this, and no one wants to have any problems.”

Once the prospective swingers “pass” the interview hurdle, they pay an initial membership fee—$130 is standard, and that includes the first “party”—and then are given a date, time and location of the next gathering. Most San Diego swing clubs hold get-togethers for couples every weekend, or every other weekend. “Some are also open on Wednesday night, hump night—no pun intended,” Lanzaratta says with a laugh.

Most parties are for couples only, but sometimes single men or single women are allowed in—typically on Friday nights, when the action’s a bit slower than on Saturday nights. The membership fees allow these functions to be private. “If they were open to the public,” Lanzaratta says, “there could be problems.”

Once at a “party,” couples pay a cover charge of $50 to $60. That fee buys them not just admission but also munchies.

“Most of the nicer clubs have a nice buffet,” Lanzaratta says. After dinner, “you get up and sit somewhere and strike up a conversation with somebody else,” he says. Most clubs have deejays playing music, “so you get up and dance and mingle and drink a little to get more relaxed.”

And from there, well, use your imagination. “If it’s an on-premise club, there’s an area for sex,” Lanzaratta says. “It could be a back room, it could be a bedroom—that varies greatly, too. Some couples will only be with another couple if they’re both there; others want to be separate. The orgy scene is not really that prevalent—it’s usually two couples, three couples max. And then there are situations in which the man doesn’t want to do anything—he wants his wife or girlfriend to be with someone else.”

Robin C. (not her real name) is a young North County mother who briefly tried the swinger lifestyle several years ago, before she and her husband had children. Speaking through an intermediary—she’s deathly afraid of being identified—Robin says she was enticed to try “the lifestyle” by her husband. After much prodding, she relented. They hooked up with another couple her husband knew and had sex with one another.

“I knew it was wrong, but I did it,” she says. Robin and her husband soon opted out of the lifestyle, but the memories are still painful. “What were we thinking?” she asks. “This just isn’t normal.”

Lanzaratta isn’t at all surprised at this story. He says “the lifestyle” is best suited to older couples who have been married for a while and who are on solid ground.

“New relationships aren’t ready for something like this,” he says. “They have still got a lot to learn about each other. In fact, when we have a young couple come in, we give them some food for thought. We say, ‘You guys might want to think about it for a while.’”

Young couples, Lanzaratta says, are also more likely to feel insecure, which can lead to jealousy and guilt.

“Jealousy is pretty common in couples just starting out,” he says. “They need to separate love from sex. It [swinging] is recreation; it’s like going out and playing golf or tennis. And if they can keep it in that context—and if it is that for both parties—only then are they ready. Sure, the first time there might be pangs of anxiety or jealousy, or ‘Wait, you really enjoyed that; I’ve never seen you like that.’

“But they need to discuss everything before they do it and after they do it, and make sure nothing’s hidden. If one partner is more gung-ho than the other, they need to take several steps back and regroup, and ask themselves, ‘What are we trying to accomplish here?’”

Rich Hycer is a psychologist with a practice in Solana Beach. Since 1976, he has counseled hundreds of individuals and couples about relationships. He frowns on swinging just as he does on affairs, and says both can cause irreparable harm in a relationship.

“In most cases, it’s really an avoidance of dealing with the issues,” Hycer explains. “It’s much more important to look to ourselves and to what’s going on between us and our partner than look outside the marriage.”

He says people who are drawn to sex outside marriage, or outside a committed relationship, invariably are looking for a quick fix. “They may feel their marriage or relationship isn’t satisfying, but they don’t want to go through the problems of divorce,” he says. “It may temporarily make people feel good, but it doesn’t deal with the underlying issues that are going on in that marriage or relationship. It may be a short-term, ‘feel-good’ experience, but it doesn’t really solve issues and can become an avoidance.”

Lanzaratta agrees that swinging can be detrimental for couples whose relationships are in trouble. But for those involved in solid, mutually satisfying relationships, he maintains, “it’s just the opposite—it brings couples closer together and deepens their commitment. It’s not the way to fix a bad marriage; it’s a way to enhance a good marriage.”

What drives people to seek sex outside of marriage? Monogamy is unnatural, Lanzaratta says—which is why so many people have affairs, something he rails against.

He adds that, contrary to common thought, women are often the drivers behind a couple’s entry into “the lifestyle.”

“A lot of women would like maybe to have an experience with another woman, but they have no idea how to go about it in regular society,” Lanzaratta says. “This is one place they can find it. This is very acceptable here. It’s the covering up and the cheating that destroys a marriage, not the sex. This is something couples do together.”

Danielle van Dam’s Parents’ Sexual ‘Swinging’ Put Her in Danger
New ‘Alternate Lifestyle’ Is Latest on Secular Left’s Agenda
By Allyson Smith

A murder trial currently underway in Southern California is proving that “alternative sexual lifestyles” practiced by “consenting adults” in the “privacy of their own homes” can have unforeseen consequences for society at large — and in this case, may have cost the life of a little girl.

Seven-year-old Danielle van Dam was discovered missing from her bedroom on Saturday morning, February 2, by her parents Brenda and Damon van Dam. On February 27, her badly decomposed and nude body, minus a foot and reproductive organs, was discovered along a rural roadside in East San Diego County. Because of the body’s condition, the medical examiner was unable to determine the exact cause of death or if little Danielle had been sexually molested.

David Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed design engineer and van Dam neighbor, has been charged with Danielle’s kidnapping and murder. He is also charged with possession of child pornography after police found thousands of pornographic images on his computer.

In opening arguments last week, prosecutor Jeff Dusek told jurors that DNA evidence found in Westerfield’s motor home and on a jacket would conclusively link him to Danielle, and that his possession of child pornography would supply the motive needed to convict him of her murder.

However, the prosecution’s case against Westerfield has been complicated by the van Dams' debauched lifestyle. Westerfield’s defense attorney Steven Feldman argued that Brenda and Damon van Dam’s “risqué behavior” — including their promiscuous sexual relationships and marijuana and alcohol use — opened their home to several people who could have abducted and killed their daughter.

‘SWINGING,’ DRUGS, AND ROCK-AND-ROLL
On February 1, the night Danielle vanished from her home in the upscale San Diego suburb of Sabre Springs, her mother and two female friends, Denise Kemal and Barbara Easton, partied at a local bar. Before leaving for the bar, the three women drank alcohol and smoked marijuana in the van Dams' garage, where a door leading into the house had been altered so that Danielle and her two brothers, then aged 5 and 9, could be locked out from inside the house. Damon van Dam also admitted drinking and smoking marijuana with the women before they left.

Damon stayed home with the children while Brenda, Barbara and Denise went to nearby Dad’s Café. There, according to court testimony, they continued drinking, danced provocatively, and went outside at one point to smoke more marijuana supplied by another “family friend,” Rich Brady. They also ran into Westerfield, whom Brenda and Danielle had visited earlier in the week to sell Girl Scout cookies.

When the bar closed, the women — described as “toasted” by that time — came back to the van Dam home with Brady and another male friend, Keith Stone, who had expressed a sexual interest in Easton. Upon arriving home, Brenda van Dam noticed that an alarm light was in the house. She and Kemal searched the house and found that the side garage door was open. While they did so, Easton went upstairs to the van Dam bedroom, where she got into bed with Damon van Dam, rubbed his back, and they kissed.

Noticing Easton’s absence, Brenda van Dam went upstairs and found her with her husband. She told the two to come downstairs to join the others. Shortly thereafter, all four guests left, and Brenda and Damon went to bed. Sometime after 3:00 a.m., Damon van Dam awoke to find another alarm light blinking. Going downstairs, he discovered the kitchen sliding glass door open. He closed it and went back to bed without checking on the children. Hours later, when Danielle failed to emerge from her bedroom, the van Dams called 911 to report her disappearance.

‘SWAPPING’ OR ‘SEX PARTY’?
Initially, the van Dams lied to police detectives about their sexual activities and acquaintances. However, on the stand last week, Brenda and Damon confirmed that many of the rumors about their “lifestyle” which had circulated throughout San Diego since their daughter's disappearance were true.

In addition to his activities the night of Danielle’s disappearance, Damon van Dam testified that, on at least three occasions, he had sex or tried to have sex with Easton in the presence of his wife. He and Brenda also admitted having had sex with Kemal and her husband, Andy, at a Halloween party in October 2000.

When asked by the prosecuting attorney if she had had a “sex party” at her home the night of Danielle’s disappearance, Brenda van Dam denied it, saying, “There has never been a sex party at my house.” She subsequently admitted to the defense attorney during cross-examination that she and Damon had engaged in sex with the Kemals during the Halloween party but said, “I don’t consider that to be a sex party.” Kemal similarly downplayed the Halloween party, saying it was “more like a swap” and adding that the van Dam children were not in the home that night.

To date, the remaining van Dam children have not been removed from the home.

MOLES: ‘SWINGING’ MOCKS MARRIAGE
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Westerfield trial is “one of the most closely scrutinized trials in San Diego County history.” Its aspects, including the van Dams’ sexual proclivities, “have generated a raucous public discourse ranging from pedophilia to proper parenting.”

The case also turns a spotlight on organizations like the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), based in Washington, D.C., that advocates “alternative sexual expressions” such as “swinging” (wife-swapping), “polyamory” (multiple simultaneous sexual relationships), and “consensual” sadomasochism. See the April 18, 2002 C&F Report article to learn more about the full agenda of the NCSF, which now works closely with major homosexual and transsexual activist groups such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and GenderPAC.

Cindy Moles, director of Concerned Women for America of San Diego and Imperial Counties, has followed the van Dam case and said: “This ‘lifestyle’ cheapens marriage and reduces it to nothing more than a contract between two people who share a house and a checkbook. The ‘swingers’ movement makes a total mockery out of fidelity and marriage, and threatens the children who would normally find safe haven in a home with parents who are faithful to each other.”

Moles said it is interesting that “just as special interest groups worked to normalize and legalize homosexuality, organizations like the NCSF are advocating for this appalling ‘swinging’ lifestyle.”

Child advocate Douglas Howard Pierce warned on his Millennium Children’s Fund Web site: “America needs to be aware about another type of hidden swingers called ‘family affair.’ This is when the children are involved in family group sexual encounters. This type of underground activity is prevalent via the Internet and chat rooms titled ‘family affair.’”

‘LIFESTYLES’ HAVE CONSEQUENCES
San Diego pro-family attorney Bill Trask offered the following analysis of the van Dam story: “In a criminal case, the defense has to produce enough evidence that causes the jury to doubt that the defendant committed the crime. One way of doing that is to show that there is another reasonable explanation” — in this case, that the van Dams opened their doors to a variety of unsavory characters.

“I think what this case boils down to is a principle that is generally applicable regardless of what the lifestyle is, and that is that even though in our society we are free to engage in any lifestyle we want, it doesn’t mean that we’re free from the consequences of that lifestyle,” Trask added.

Allyson Smith, a regular contributor to Culture & Family Report, is a freelance reporter based in San Diego, California.

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Westerfield closings set for Tuesday

USA "Homeland Security" but not for Children

WELCOME BACK MIZ....Just in time for the final act....

Interesting that Dusek can pick and choose the veracity of the evidence, on a case by case basis....

Hmmmm...