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."
Another misstatement. Before you try to insult other people, make sure your facts are straight.
According to testimony, there were NOT 1000's of pictures of child porn.
According to EXPERT testimony there were NONE.
The one movie image file had the voice of what sounded LIKE a child, the actress in the movie APPEARED to be a child, but that has not been proven. It has not been proven that DW EVER saw that particular file.
DW has not been proven guilty. It would appear he is NOT GUILTY,only when the JURY decides will we know.
OTOH, the Van Dam's themselves have testified to everything attributed to them.
Would anyone on here judge smoking pot to be a worse crime that murder? I can assure you, absolutely not.
If you try to claim that others believe that, you make yourself look foolish. As I said, perhaps you should get your facts straight.
I did and I think you said something in it very important.
That was "I'll keep reading".
The more you know about the FACTS of the case, the testimony, the evidence, the more informed of an opinion you will have.
Whether your opinion, or mine, will turn out to match what the jury decides, remains to be seen. Not only that, but it probably won't make a bit of difference.
The world will keep turning, evil will keep growing, more and more innocents will be slaughtered while the crowd watches and cheers.
Your above statement I have to completely disagree with.
Regardless to her taking the fifth, BARB, Damon,and Brenda had already stated to police (BARB first, then Damon and Brenda after repeated questioning) that Denise was also smoking pot. I believe that the airlines would have fired her regardless.
the people testifying against a criminal suspect are more likely to be punished than the criminal suspect is.
As for this part of your statement, if the people testifying either admit themselves to criminal action, or have others testify that they did, then yes, they should have to face the music. Your statement that they are more likely (if they are undeniably guilty) of being punished than the criminal SUSPECT is, is obvious too, because he is a SUSPECT. The evidence trial is not finished and he has not been proven guilty yet, nor admitted to it.
Anyway, nice to see you on the threads.
Yes, she could have sought refuge in the amendment which protects her right against self-incrimination, but perhaps she believed that her testimony might help convict the vicious, sadistic beast who killed that little girl. For that she's better than the Enron, Arthur Anderson, WorldCom, Martha Stewarts of the world.
Several new items have been added by some posters, and I have revised some others.
HOPE THIS MAKES YOU LAUGH ! ! !! ! ! OFFICIAL DW TRIAL THREAD GLOSSARY
INSECTOPHILE= To be conversant in life cycles and mating of obscure insects, sprinkled with multisyllabic terms from college level biology and meteorology. Caused by prolonged exposure to a BUG GUY.
INSECTOPHILE - To be conversant in life cycles and mating of obscure insects, sprinkled with multi-syllabic terms from college level biology and meteorology. Caused by prolonged exposure to a BUG GUY.
SLUTJACKALS=(1)a bisexually aggressive female type species, with out scruples, restraint, or moral fiber. Willing to settle for anything that satisfies basal desires, and in any way considered momentarily convenient.(2)Masters of deceit, sinister, cold-hearted, savage creatures which prey upon ambushing unsuspecting neighbors.
FELDMANIZED - Judicially castrated; having reduced a reasonably intelligent witness to a blithering blob with the coherence of Rain Man and the believability of x42; usually accompanied by rhythmic thumping of DA's head on table. See DUSEKED.
PREMATURE ACCUSATION=An arrest by police of a suspect before they have done investigative work on all of the evidence which might indicate which suspect is the most likely perpetrator.
BEETLEMANIA=
FISHES AND LOAVES PIZZA= A seeming unending supply of pizza. Can be bought at NOON on a Friday, and it will feed a family of 5, then will feed the same family of 5 + 2 more guests until 8:30pm, then will feed Mom,Dad, and four guests around 2am Saturday Morning.
THE IMMACULATE ABDUCTION= The kidnapping of Danielle Van Dam by an unknown (Alias SUPER NINJA DAVE), who broke into a locked house, which had alarms, and a dog, and a father and three children inside. He kidnapped the young female, while drunk, carried her out of the house, flew her to his motorhome (see caped outfit), and murdered her. While in the house, he left no prints, no DNA, no hairs, no fibers, not one piece of evidence he was ever there, and neither the dog, the father, nor the two other children ever noticed anyone had been in their house and walked past their open bedroom doors.
THE NEVER-ENDING-JOINT= A rolled cigarette of marijuana (wackyweed) that can be smoked by 4 people at 830pm , then smoked by 4 or more people several times in the parking lot of a bar, then can still be smoked by six people in a garage , at 2 in the morning. (Save the roach!)
DUSEKED= to have your fragile house of prosecutorial cards collapse when your witness is FELDMANIZED
VAN DAM DAMN VAN = a blue van used in Damon Van Dam's wild ride through all the probable dump sites for Danielle's body on the weekend of Feb 16th. Although Damon does not report having found the body that weekend, the flys did. Now missing in action.
FAULKERNIZED= a natural process whereby maggots destroy a month's worth of court testimony in two hours.
HTML CODE SHRIEKING - repeated use of large, colorful fonts in posts. To the annoyance of some, the amusement of others, and the bafflement of newbies.
SWINGER-SIX =Brenda, Barbara, Denise, Larry, Mo and Curly (AKA PIZZA-EATERS)
PIZZA-EATERS: Usually a group of 5 or more of guests and/or family members that is customarily needed to eat a neverending pizza. See: FISHES AND LOAVES PIZZA
PIZZA-PARTY = After coming home from the bar at 2am with friends, new friends, total strangers, you head to the garage for PIZZA. (PIZZA is AKA drugs, sex)
SWING-SET= For those who don't like playing in the sand box. Usually a set of six, who share the set and enjoy highs and lows.
BARBED= Having reached the point of being too hot to handle for either the prosecution OR the defense.
GRACEFULL= full of self-importance (as in Nancy Grace), to the great annoyance of others
HELLOCINATING= the Swing Set's delusional belief that everyone they met wanted to come home with them.
ASSJACKALS="the tendency to tell every little thing about oneself that very, very few really care to hear, and do it repeatedly."
FIRECRACKERS = Posters on a thread that appear as: A bunch of noise and sparks, a little fire, but mostly smoke, and then after a while, they are gone.
THREADHOUND= Someone who dominates the threads all day, and howls at anyone that won’t agree with them, because they think they know more than anyone else. .
THREADJACKALS= Those that get on the threads only for an hour or so, and without any knowledge of the facts of the discussion, proceed to tell everyone else (THREADHOUNDS) how wrong they are, how rude they are, how badly they treat posters like themselves(FIRECRACKERS). I.E. Spends all their time complaining about others.
VAN-DAMNED-IF-I-KNOW: A poster who joins mid-thread and mid-trial and has less than a thimbleful of information, but spouts off anyway.
You will find the correct post, located here:
Assjackals, close relative of the Jackass...a person who spends too much time complaining about other people.
Yes, there was a vicious, sadistic beast that killed the little girl. Question is , Who was it ?
I have NO CLUE what the heck you are talking about..I've not posted on this forum ANY freepmails to you or anyone else EVER. I've gone out of my way to not reply to you, post to you for numerous reasons. :) (BTW, I only sent you 2 freepmails) This will be my LAST post to you or about you.
According to WHO? And why were they lying on the floor, inside out, if she hadn't been wearing them?
JACKASSES="the tendency to tell every little thing about oneself that very, very few really care to hear, and do it repeatedly."
FIRECRACKERS = Posters on a thread that appear as: A bunch of noise and sparks, a little fire, but mostly smoke, and then after a while, they are gone.
THREADHOUND= Someone who dominates the threads all day, and howls at anyone that won’t agree with them, because they think they know more than anyone else.
ASSJACKALS= close relative of the Jackass...a person who spends too much time complaining about other people.
THREADJACKALS= Those that get on the threads only for an hour or so, and without any knowledge of the facts of the discussion, proceed to tell everyone else (THREADHOUNDS) how wrong they are, how rude they are, how badly they treat posters like themselves(FIRECRACKERS)
VAN-DAMNED-IF-I-KNOW: A poster who joins mid-thread and mid-trial and has less than a thimbleful of information, but spouts off anyway.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.