Judge Mudd Refuses Sequester Plea: Westerfield Jury Verdict In Sep? (Aug. 16th Verdict Watch)

Union Trib ^ | August 15, 2002 | Jeff Dillion/Steve Perez

[The Other Harry]

Well, if the lemonade is fresh. I suppose I can survive that.

(I know of a great place in Annoplis, MD for getting fresh lemonade, btw. Also of a nice little rental house on the eastern Maryland shore.)

[crystalk]

Chandra Levy's left lower extremity was missing, still is I believe.

[FresnoDA]

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.

[pinz-n-needlez]

You got that right, Spec!

They don't seem very impressed with Mudd, but they sure seem to have listened well to Feldman.

I think those are good signs for Westerfield.

[The Other Harry]

They don't seem very impressed with Mudd, but they sure seem to have listened well to Feldman.

This seems right.

At a minimum, I think they are being careful and thoughtful. No knee-jerk.

[hoosiermama]

Do a "google" on left foot/evil and you'll find all sorts of interesting things!

[bvw]

As the imprisoned Westerfield is a decent engineer, here is some humor engineers might enjoy in honor of his works.... (Source: Old FR Thread "Understanding Engineers [Humor]")

Understanding Engineers - Take Nine

An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."

He bent over,picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

[spectre]

I sure hope you are right, pinz. I just don't dare to hope..:~(

Fres, your article just posted reveals the motive behind the Van Dams manufacturing the story about Danielle's disappearance.

They were swinging, drunk, high and unavailable as responsible parents that evening. If an accident happened, where Danielle met her fate, then they would have been terrified to call the LE. What would LE think of them? Would they lock them up? Would they take the boys away? They were just plain afraid of the consequences...even tho they tried to cover up what happened that evening in 6 interviews and then went on to brazenly state "we have no regrets", which was the ultimate NOT GUILTY message of this whole sorted mess. The public bought it, only because they had a suspect..that is, Westerfield.

But suppose there wasn't a Westerfield? How would the public have reacted to the contributory negligence and culpability of the Van Dams?

Dusek would be holding the rope in his hands for them, instead.

sw

[MizSterious]

SW, I think once this trial is over, the vD fecal matter will hit the fan in a very big way, and I don't think any P.R. firm can help what's going to come out. I think some of it will shock even those of us who have followed this case. I just feel very sorry for the boys still in the household.

[alisasny]

In or out of this house these 2 boys are pretty much doomed. They are going to hear about this from anyone and everyone as they grow up and beyond. At some point they will even begin to question some of these serious issues.

[spectre]

Oh yeah...Miz. Big grins..

sw

[shezza]

Mornin', all. I must say, yesterday's thread contained one "eureka!" after another. (I gasped so much I woke up with a sore throat today!) The dry-cleaners receipt, the left-foot connections, Ott and Keyser's mysterious goings-on, the pre-search-warrant searches, Youngflesh's coincidental contributions...it's almost overwhelming!

An excellent collection of brains on this board. I'm so impressed with you all. Thanks for sharing all the fascinating info, revelations, discoveries, and ideas. May I bask in your brilliance?

BTW, speaking of Youngflesh and the porn disks, several things have been bothering me for a very long time: first of all, Watkins's testimony indicates he never saw the disks in question until Youngflesh waved around an envelope and said, "Aha! Look what I found!"

Watkins never saw any envelopes on the office bookshelves, and he didn't see Youngflesh pull any envelope off the bookshelf. The first time he saw those disks and that envelope was when Youngflesh presented it to him. When asked where the envelope was found, he recounted what Youngflesh had told him, not what he saw ('cause he didn't find it or see Youngflesh find it).

Also, they said it was typical for porn collectors to keep disks in a long white envelope sticking up on the bookshelf, along with a list of passwords and web addresses. What kind of moron keeps secret stuff "hidden" in that sort of highly visible manner...or writes down all his passwords and stores them in a highly visible white envelope sticking up on the shelf? None of that makes any sense to me. (All the silliness and inconsistencies make it look more apparent that LE DID plant some of the porn while DAW was away and before the search warrant came in...just like Ott could have planted evidence at Twin Peaks before the other LEOs came in to pick up the goods.)

[MizSterious]

Shezza, a summary of the findings might help some who didn't catch the whole thread yesterday, if you or someone wouldn't mind typing up a bit of it. Some of them were, indeed, stunning.

[hoosiermama]

Do we know if Youngflesh has been in any "shady" deals?

[shezza]

I'll see what I can pull together.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Good pionts, Shezza. I've wondered some of that stuff myself.

Do you have any ideas about why?

Why such an all-out effort to go after Westerfield?
Why such clumsy efforts to perhaps 'plant' porn, fibers, blood, unconstitutional interviews, etc.
Why would any of theses cops, prosecutors or techs put their jobs on the line in this case?
Why would they cover for such lowlifes as the VanDams?

How did they manage to get so lucky in that Westerfield never did invite anyone into his motorhome over that particular weekend?
That he didn't happen to make a phone call or be seen by a neighbor when he got home from Dad's?
That no one in the neighborhood ever saw Danielle go into the motorhome?

I don't have answers, I don't think Westerfield had anything to do with her death, but I don't understand how the VanDams got so lucky in a circumstantial case that protects them from prosecution in their daughter's death.

I think Damon did it. I could be convinced that he's involved in the other abductions and deaths. But how is he protecting himself? He could be linked to Adam and Laura's deaths, yet their parents helped him when HIS daughter went missing.

Not just Shezza, though, does anyone have ideas about these questions?

[small_l_libertarian]

Shezza, I had completely forgotten about the "plainly marked, highly visible, secret porn stash."

Very good catch. You have an excellent brain your own self!

[MizSterious]

For what it's worth, he did invite one person to go along with him, and while I can't recall his name, he did testify to that fact. Would you invite a friend along while you kidnap, rape, and murder a 7 year old little girl? How nuts is that?

[hoosiermama]

By a spell? Or maybe he's just really good a game playing?
We need more information on Dungeons and Dragons and it's relationship to the missing left foot.

[Freedom2specul8]

....