Posted on 07/12/2002 7:06:01 AM PDT by MizSterious
By Kristen Green
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 12, 2002
Denise Kemal was fired June 28, more than two weeks after her nationally televised testimony, because the company has a zero-tolerance drug policy.
Losing her job has ruined her life, Kemal said yesterday. "I've always wanted to fly," she said. "It took me years to get my job."
She said she is appealing the dismissal because smoking marijuana "wasn't an everyday thing." While she waits for an answer, Kemal, 28 and recently divorced, watches the Westerfield trial from the couch of her new Florida apartment.
Kemal was called to the witness stand by the prosecution June 10. She was at the van Dam home Feb. 1, the night 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was last seen, and spent the evening with Brenda van Dam, the girl's mother.
The two had become friendly through their husbands, who both work at Qualcomm. A spokeswoman for Southwest confirmed that Kemal had been fired, but declined to elaborate. She said company policy states that the "illegal use of drugs, narcotics or controlled substances off duty and off company premises is not acceptable and may result in termination because it can affect on-the-job performance and the confidence of our customers in the company's ability to meet its responsibilities."
Kemal said she was just answering questions posed to her during Westerfield's trial because "I want to make sure he gets convicted."
"Because of him, it's just ruined everyone's lives," she said.
Kemal testified that she went out with her Tierrasanta neighbor Barbara Easton and Brenda van Dam to Dad's Cafe & Steakhouse in Poway two Fridays in a row, Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. They were celebrating Kemal's upcoming move to Baltimore, where she had been transferred for work.
The second night out, Feb. 1, she was introduced to Westerfield, whom she has described as "creepy." Westerfield is charged with kidnapping and murdering Danielle. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
Kemal said the three women first celebrated her move Jan. 25. Kemal and Easton, who lived in the same apartment complex, shared a bottle of wine before driving to the van Dams, Kemal testified. She said she smoked some marijuana in the van Dams' garage before they left for the bar.
The next week, the three women decided to spend that Friday night partying at Dad's again after Damon van Dam canceled plans to go out of town and agreed to stay home with the couple's three children.
On Feb. 1, they smoked pot in the garage a second time, Kemal testified, and she and Easton shared a beer. Later in the evening, they partied at Dad's, where they ran into Westerfield. At one point in the night, they went to van Dam's sport utility vehicle to smoke marijuana again.
Kemal said her supervisors learned that she had smoked pot because customers mailed newspaper articles about her testimony.
She had never had problems at Southwest before the trial, she said. In fact, she regularly received letters of commendation from airline passengers since she was hired in November 1998.
Once, a Texas couple she had met on a flight sent a box of candy to her home. Kemal, in turn, shipped them a set of candles for their living room.
Kemal said that even after Sept. 11, she didn't have any reservations about flying.
"I did it because it's my job, and I love my job," she said. "I get to travel and meet different people. I like to serve the public."
I'm wondering why if they believed this to be a kidnapping, they waited until the 12th for the 'trap & trace'. Also, the 'pen register' (calls from that number) start on the 17th.
Like I said, I'm confused!
"Because of him, it's just ruined everyone's lives," she said.
Sooooo, she's just mad because got caught BREAKING the company rules and the law. It's Westerfield's fault she smoked maui-waui because?
Today's edition of the North County Times is not yet on their website, but I am a subscriber.
I will type/post two paragraphs from today's article titled "Affidavits Detail Remarks from Westerfield". I found it interesting.
Westerfield also attracted suspicion because in conversations with detectives he mentioned that Damon van Dam and Danielle were going to an upcoming father-daughter dance."Only Danielle van Dam could have told him about the dance and only after she had been abducted," police write in one of the affidavits.
This is a good example of their wish to pin everything on him. What a foolish deduction !!!
We have now heard that perhaps Brenda van Dam told DW about it. So how could police have decided that the ONLY way he knew it was from the child herself.
This is another example of customizing interpretations to fit the suspect they want it to fit. It's very disturbing, IMO.
I once had a client that came into a session drunk as a skunk..she said she had not been drinking someone stopped her on the street and poured it down her throat against her will...
Addicts (sex, gambling and drug) all think alike..they are all victims..
Remember her indignation when it was suggested that she and BVD had lesbian sex? .OH no it was more of a swap. As if she was discussing having DVD mow her lawn
BTW is any reason given for the split?
From what I know of you south you do NOT have any "friends" like this..
He may not have known how easy it would be for him. He probably believed that there was a babysitter that night, per his conversatin with brenda. I'm sure he didn't expect the babysitter to know the alarm codes...that might have been sheer luck on his part. (btw It is possible that bvd's conversations in their entirety with DW isn't known because mudd could have limited the release of htat info)
WRT: the computer....maybe he thought he wouldn't get caught...wouldn't surprise me. There is speculation that his son neal collected the illegal child porn and stored it in his dad's home office...automatically assuming that neal's the killer and not DW.
LOL...yep women belong at home. What did she think she was doing, leaving the house like that?
You're sure right about that......... : *)
Somehow that seems related to San Diego ...
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