SAN DIEGO ---- The father of 7-year-old murder victim Danielle van Dam will be allowed to attend the remaining days of her accused murderer's trial, Judge William Mudd ruled Thursday. Posted on 07/13/2002 6:28:25 AM PDT by FresnoDA
SAN DIEGO ---- The father of 7-year-old murder victim Danielle van Dam will be allowed to attend the remaining days of her accused murderer's trial, Judge William Mudd ruled Thursday.
But he warned Damon van Dam that one more incident will result in him being banned from the courthouse.
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Two weeks ago, Judge Mudd deemed Damon van Dam a "security risk" for repeatedly staring down his daughter's accused murderer, David Westerfield, in courtroom hallways despite several warnings from sheriff's deputies and prosecutors.
Mudd then barred Damon van Dam from the third floor of the downtown San Diego courthouse where Westerfield's emotionally charged trial on charges he kidnapped and murdered Danielle is being held.
On Thursday, an attorney for the van Dam family requested that Damon van Dam be allowed back in the courtroom so he could provide emotional support to his wife, Brenda van Dam, and dispel any jury speculation that his absence meant he didn't care about the trial or that he had something to hide.
The van Dams were present at the hearing, but did not address the court.
Mudd said he believed Damon van Dam has had time to think about his actions and told him that security officials were willing to give him another chance.
"If I get one report of one incident, I will ban you from the courthouse," Mudd told van Dam.
Mudd also cautioned the couple that closing arguments in the case may push them to the limits of what they can handle. The prosecution has indicted it intends to use photos of Danielle's decomposing body while presenting its argument that Westerfield molested the second-grader before she was suffocated and her nude body dumped along a rural road.
Danielle disappeared from her second-story bedroom sometime after her father tucked her into bed on Feb. 1. The next morning she was gone. Westerfield was arrested for the crime five days before her body was discovered by search volunteers on Feb. 27.
The medical examiner has testified that her body was too badly decomposed to determine time of death or whether she was sexually assaulted.
The defense is likely to attack the van Dams' integrity and argue their lifestyle choices ---- including the van Dams' admitted drug use and previous sexual relations with other couples ---- put their children at risk. The van Dams also have two sons.
Prosecutors and the defense attorney have made it their practice to notify the judge before showing jurors graphic photographs of Danielle's body during the six-week trial so the van Dams could be asked to leave the courtroom.
Mudd said he expects the van Dams to leave if any part of the trial becomes too much for them.
"I don't think anybody is downplaying the emotion that both Mr. and Mrs. van Dam are going through," Mudd said.
Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, said Westerfield did not object to Damon van Dam returning to the courtroom, but there still were security concerns. Feldman said Damon van Dam was "mad-dogging" the defense team, or shooting dirty looks at the attorneys.
Feldman said the van Dams have been "verbally attacking" potential buyers who are looking at Westerfield's Sabre Springs home, which is two doors down from their house. Westerfield signed the house over to his attorneys.
Feldman also accused Brenda van Dam of muttering a curse word at one of Westerfield's friends who testified earlier this week.
Prosecutor Jeff Dusek told Mudd that Brenda van Dam denies making any such comment and a victim witness advocate who accompanies her each day backs up her account.
Testimony in the Westerfield trial is on hold until July 22 when Mudd returns from a vacation. At Thursday's hearing, Feldman said he expects the defense will take two or three days more before resting its case. Prosecutors may then present rebuttal witnesses before closing arguments begin sometime in late July or early August.
Contact staff writer Kimberly Epler at (760) 739-6644 or kepler@nctimes.com.
7/12/02
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 11, 2002
Two weeks after he was banned from the courtroom, Danielle van Dam's father has asked the judge to allow him to return, promising to avoid "any contact and/or physical proximity" with the man charged with killing his daughter.
In legal papers filed this week, Damon van Dam apologized for his conduct in the courthouse and said he hopes to attend the trial.
An attorney for the family said van Dam is worried that jurors might draw the wrong conclusion if they have noticed his absence.
"The jury may erroneously consider his absence from the courtroom as an indication that he voluntarily elected not to attend because he doesn't care about the outcome, has something to hide and/or doesn't provide emotional support to his wife, who is obviously still attending the trial," attorney Spencer Busby stated in the court documents.
Superior Court Judge William Mudd is expected to consider the issue this morning.
Mudd banned van Dam from the trial and the third floor of the courthouse June 24 after sheriff's deputies said he was trying to make eye contact with defendant David Westerfield and was inquiring about Westerfield's transportation routine from the jail.
At one point, a deputy spotted van Dam staring through the courtroom window at Westerfield. "I just want to let him know I'm here," van Dam reportedly told the deputy.
The judge also cited the father's "facial expressions in the courtroom as they relate to the defense."
In a declaration filed with the motion, the 36-year-old software engineer acknowledged "that I may have been, in recent weeks, perceived as a security threat to the courtroom by the court's personnel and am truly remorseful for any distress or inconvenience I may have caused."
In papers filed with the court, Busby, a victims' rights advocate who is representing the van Dams for free, blamed the behavior on high emotions and said Damon van Dam never intended to cause Westerfield any physical harm.
As the parents of a slain child, the van Dams have certain rights under state law to attend court proceedings for the person charged with the crime, Busby asserted in the motion.
Attorneys involved in the trial can't comment because of a gag order.
(Dream On - Aerosmith)
SWING ON - PARODY
VERSE 1
Every time that I hookup with a new one
Ask my wife, to be happy that she's still one
Party... from dusk to dawn
The lifestyle's hard
There's no other the way
Every swingers got to do it all in order to PLAY
VERSE 2
I know my time is short
Swinging popularity depends on how you are
I know it really is a sin
You simply block that out..to achieve the ends...
Half my life is flashing before the cameras
Local friends, are starting to abandon
They think it's true
Do bad things, and they come back to bite you...
CHORUS
Swing with me, swing for the years
Swing for the laughter, swing for the tears
Swing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow the po-lice will take me away
Swing On, Swing On
Swing yourself a dream come true
Swing On, Swing On
Swing until your dream come true
Swing On, Swing On, Swing On...
Swing with me, swing for the years
Swing for the laughter and swing for the tears
Swing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow the po-lice will take me away
Damon travels regularly for business, and the family was planning to accompany him Feb. 11 on a two-week trip to Italy. Danielle was excited about the trip, her parents said.
An adventurous eater, Danielle had recently taken an interest in cooking and often sat in the kitchen with her mother, helping mix ingredients for dinner. Ice cream and Chinese dishes are her favorite foods, but she loves spicy food like hot wings and salsa. She'll add hot sauce to anything.
Roger Tso, an elementary school principal whose daughter Taylor has played with Danielle for several years, described Danielle as a well-behaved, sweet girl. Taylor has told her father that she misses Danielle, especially during lunchtime and when their reading group meets at school.
"She's a sweetheart," Tso said. "I can't say enough about her."
After she disappeared, a classmate, Regina Murphy, was planning a nighttime mission to search for Danielle with another friend until her mother discovered their plan.
And Savanna Dato, who plays with Danielle on the swings and in the sandbox at playtime, has prayed for her at bedtime, said her mother, Kim Dato.
Sara Call, 7, regularly asks her mother if Danielle can come for a sleepover when she returns home.
"I miss Danielle," she recently told her mother, Paula Call. "I want her to come home now."
Their teacher, Sharon Armstrong, said she's too upset to talk much about her student.
"She's a wonderful little girl," Armstrong said. "I'm just hoping she'll get back with us as soon as possible."
Described by friends as a "girly girl," the middle child between two brothers, Danielle was quiet and sweet. She enjoyed dressing in stylish clothes and was always seen wearing a popular choker necklace.
She was "outgoing, smiling, happy," Libby said. "Very, very strong."
Danielle loved coloring, playing with dolls and writing and drawing in her journal.
"She's a very sweet, normal 7-year-old who didn't deserve this and had her whole life ahead of her," said Kim Dato, whose daughter Savanna was in Danielle's class.
Danielle had recently taken up piano. And she was a Brownie who sold Girl Scout cookies to the man now accused of killing her.
"I feel so sorry about the girl if she's not alive," said Cecilia Bao, a neighbor and composer who wrote a song for Danielle titled "The Missing Little One."
Danielle was born in Texas but lived most of her life in California. She spent the past few years in a comfortable two-story home in Sabre Springs, just up the hill from Creekside Elementary School, where she was in a combined first-and second-grade class.
She lived with her parents, two brothers – Derrick, 9, and Dylan, 5 – and their Weimaraner, Layla. Her mother, Brenda, stays at home to take care of her children, and her father, Damon, works as an engineer for Qualcomm.
Danielle often wrote her parents letters. The last night she was seen alive, she hugged and kissed her father as he tucked her into bed.
Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2 after her mother went to wake her and she wasn't in her canopy bed.
Her friends' parents described her as strong-headed but obedient. She loved to go to sleepovers with her friends, and parents didn't mind inviting her over, said Paula Call, whose daughter Sara was a friend of Danielle's.
"It's a joy to have her come to your home," Call said in an interview soon after Danielle disappeared. "She's really a well-rounded little girl."
NO SAN DIEGO, California (AP) --A flight attendant who testified she had smoked marijuana with the parents of 7-year-old slaying victim Danielle van Dam said she was fired because of the airline's anti-drug policy.
Denise Kemal, 28, said she was dismissed by Southwest Airlines on June 28, 2 1/2 weeks after testifying at the trial of David Westerfield, 50, a neighbor of the van Dams accused of kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography. He has pleaded innocent and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Kemal, who is now living in Florida, said losing her job ruined her life.
"I've always wanted to fly," she told The San Diego Tribune. "It took me years to get my job." Kemal was hired by the airlines in 1998.
The Dallas-based carrier would not provide details about the dismissal but noted company policy states the "illegal use of drugs, narcotics or controlled substances off duty and off company premises is not acceptable and may result in termination."
Kemal said her supervisors learned of her testimony after customers mailed in newspaper articles about it.
Kemal had testified she was in the van Dam home February 1, the night Danielle was last seen alive, and smoked marijuana in the couple's garage before leaving with the girl's mother to go to a local restaurant and bar.
Kemal said she will be appeal the dismissal because smoking marijuana "wasn't an everyday thing."
Testimony in the trial resumes July 22, following a planned vacation by the judge.
Danielle's dad to return to court |
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A judge ruled Thursday morning that Danielle van Dam's father can once again attend the trial of her accused killer. Judge William Mudd, who booted Damon van Dam from his San Diego courtroom June 25 for threatening defendant David Westerfield, said he was giving the victim's father a second chance. "I am satisfied he's had enough time to think about this," said Mudd, before directly addressing the 36-year-old software engineer. "You should know, Mr. van Dam, if I get one report of one incident, I will bar you from the courthouse." Westerfield's capital murder trial is now in its sixth week. Court officers became concerned last month after they spotted van Dam lurking in the hallway through which Westerfield is transferred from the jail to the courthouse. He told one deputy that he wanted to "let him know I'm here." Even after court officers warned him, he continued watching Westerfield's daily transfer closely. The van Dams have made no secret of their disdain for Westerfield, a 50-year-old engineer who lived two doors from them. Danielle's mother, Brenda, glowered at Westerfield throughout her testimony. During Tuesday's hearing, defense lawyer Steven Feldman said both parents were "mad-dogging" &151; "by which I mean [giving] intensely dirty looks" to — the defense in the courtroom and hallway. He said a married couple who testified for the defense reported that Brenda van Dam called one of them a profanity in the hallway. And Feldman said realtors showing Westerfield's home, now deeded to the defense lawyers, had complained about the van Dam's behavior. "Potential buyers are being threatened. They're being cursed at. I don't want to use the word attacked, but certainly verbally attacked by either Damon van Dam, Brenda van Dam, both or a combination," said Feldman. Prosecutor Jeff Dusek said Brenda van Dam denied ever using an expletive with the defense witnesses, and the van Dams' lawyer, Spencer Busby, said the other allegations were irrelevant to Damon van Dam's return to court. The judge said he understood the parents' anger, but was bent on keeping emotional reactions away from jurors. The van Dams have generally chosen to leave court for witness testimony concerning Danielle's autopsy and child pornography on Westerfield's computers. After the hearing, Dusek met with the van Dams in the closed courtroom. He told Judge Mudd he planned to give the family a preview of graphic autopsy and crime scene photos that the prosecution will use in closing arguments so that "any visible reaction ... will be hopefully muted." |
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By Jeff Dillon
SIGNONSANDIEGO
June 5, 2002
SAN DIEGO – The father of Danielle van Dam testified 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 smoked marijuana with house guests and later snuggled in bed with a friend of his wife late at night after they came back from an evening at a local bar.
"You lied to the police, isn't that true?" Damon 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," Damon van Dam said.
Damon van Dam also admitted to having previously had sex with Barbara Easton and Denise Kemal -- two women who'd gone out with his wife, Brenda van Dam, that night -- in the presence of his wife.
"If by intimate relations you mean sex, yes," Damon van Dam said in response to a question from Feldman.
Feldman also grilled Damon van Dam about failing to tell police about Easton, Kemal and other people who would have been familiar with the layout of the family's house, who would have been familiar with the family's dog and who would have known the location of Danielle's bedroom.
Damon van Dam repeatedly said he hadn't considered those details relevant to his daughter's disappearance and that he initially omitted many other details while relating the "short version" of what had happened.
"When I was told it was important to tell the truth, I did," Damon van Dam said.
Dr. Norman "Skip" Sperber said the 7-year-old's four missing teeth could have been knocked loose by an impact with a "soft" object, but testified there were no signs they were hit by a hard, steel-like object or were carried off by predators.
"Animals will usually go after more nutritious tissues such as the liver, the kidney, muscles and such," Sperber said. "Rarely do they attack the face because I think there's not a lot of fat there."
Sperber kicked off the second day of testimony in the trial of David Westerfield, 50, who's accused in the kidnap and murder of Danielle. The girl's father, Damon van Dam, took the stand immediately afterward and answered questions about the family's activities the evening before Danielle's Feb. 1 disappearance.
Though he was matter-of-fact during his initial testimony and even cracked a joke about the mess in his garage, Damon van Dam began to visibly choke up when he was shown photos of Danielle's bedroom and asked to describe it to the jury.
Dusek had suggested Tuesday that the dental evidence showed Danielle had been killed by being forcibly suffocated, holding a hand over his own nose and mouth to show how a killer's hand might break loose a victim's upper teeth.
Sperber is a forensic expert who was part of the team that helped New York City authorities identify victims of the Sept. 11 attack and who has helped identify about 4,000 bodies during his career.
Questioned by Dusek, he said he had been called in on the Danielle case after her partially decomposed body was found in a wooded area off Dehesa Road on Feb. 27.
Sperber said he examined the body's teeth, jaw and head on Feb. 28 and compared them with Danielle's dental records and was "very certain" that the body was that of Danielle.
"There could not be anybody in the world with the same set of teeth," he said.
Four of the girl's upper front teeth were missing and others were loose, Sperber said. Those are teeth with relatively weak roots that children often knock out while playing.
Sperber said the remaining teeth showed no signs of chipping or other sharp trauma. He said animals rarely carry off teeth and that there were no signs any predators had been gnawing at her mouth.
Westerfield defense attorney Robert Boyce questioned whether the body was too decomposed for Sperber to rule out predation.
"Based on the lack of animal activity on the tissue, I would say I could," Sperber replied. There were animal teeth marks elsewhere on her body.
No matter what the outcome of this trial it will stink. Because if a person can be convicted on flimsy evidence like this you and I are not safe any more.
This is an example of GROSS GOVT INCOMPETANCE (for the prosecution) during a political election year...
I nominate Judge Mudd as an Honorary Admin Moderator! :D G'mornin' all!
Thank God, SFB hasn't jumped to any conclusions regarding DW's possible guilt or innocence!
Notice how Kimchee's reply to him never addresses his virulent hate and anger,...she just welcomes him to the fold! Any fellow traveler is a GOOD fellow traveler, eh Kimchee!?
Amazing. They care about what the jury thinks about him, and he's not even on trial.
They don't seem to care about creating false impressions to the jury about the defendant, however, in excluding evidence that might tend to be exclupatory (that phone call on the 16th) and including evidence more prejudicial than probative (the kiddy porn, downloaded by his son.)
What a farce.
Of course the parents should be ruled out before fingers are pointed in other directions..that is obvious. The LE ruled them out as the murderers.
But what about the leak..what was his purpose wrt the parents...(judge jury and executionor..well,the leak was the judge, RR was the executioner..and pierce was his assistant)
The LE leak knew exactly what he or she was doing...and that was simply trying to control the direction of the public eye and did a dern good job.
Regardless, by now it doesn't matter anymore. Damon's guilty, dw's innocent, the blood, fibers, hair and child porn were planted.....we should all just move on. (/sarcasm off)
Unfortunately, people are convicted on this sort of flimsy evidence every day in this country. We have a population that, for some reason, believes that if you are arrrested for something, then you must be guilty as charged.
Of course, no one thinks it will happen to them. I'm sure DW felt that way, too, and now he is on trial for his life.
We are not safe.
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