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
Mash Here: Stealth Ninja Dave
Click on Sing Along then Sing Along #3. Then just sing along.
Well it could be his line, but I'd have to wonder how 0.17" of moisture would do that ?
And since blowflys usually lay eggs within 20 minutes of exposure, you'd have to conclude the body was mummified before it was exposed, then later re-hydrated. Not a good argument for the prosecution.
The thing that limits the earliest date of exposure is the beetle larvae, Faulkner found only the initial generation.
Either DAW or Martha Stewart, did they find any hand-tied potpourri sachets ...
Yeah but if they can prove something to help the accused they tend to do it. It can really help things.
San Diego is something like the sixth largest city in the US. San Diego County is about 2.9 million souls, and Poway is a suburb of the city of San Diego.
It seems natural that Poway would be described by locals as having a "small town" nature. They mean that in the sense of having a community identity--strip malls, little league, schools, churches, similar neighborhoods and of course eating places and bars..
In old fashioned American small towns, it often meant families which had lived nearby for generations. That is not the case in Poway, which is largely made up of subdivision homes & condos, built in the last 30 years.
If I recall, the Van Dams are not originally from California. I'm fairly sure that the patterns of suburban sprawl of California, are taking place in many other places, too.
Tell us all about it.
I am still waiting for the defense to actually show that it has enough information to deflect any rays of guilt from dw to someone else. IE the defense could bring forth evidence from other neighbors houses or vehicles..such as danielle's blood drops or her hair or layla's hairs using tapelifts.. I mean if danielle had a habit of sneaking in other people's vehicles dripping blood we deserve to know that. (not neighbors she was at all the time of course..)
For your information, "left them hanging" means only that time ran out before Judge Mudd's vacation. I'm sure -- very sure -- there are quite a few bombshells to come. I could be wrong -- have been before, will be again -- but that's what my gut tells me. Now, as to the part about what the defense had "better prove..."
1) Doesn't matter if they were strangers, though offering the "Brad Pitt guy" (didn't bother looking up the name -sorry!) an invite seems to me as being quite similar as offering invites to strangers.
2) The jury will be instructed that, if given two reasonable theories, they must choose the one that assumes innocence.
The theory that presumes GUILT says that (a) an extremely drunken 50-year-old man "snuck" into the van Dam household without alerting occupants or animals, despite a security system; (b) he left not a single trace of his presence, despite his inebriated condition; (c) he destroyed all vital evidence (excluding hair and fiber, which I think we all agree are very tenous) except for a blood-spotted jacket, which he took to a dry-cleaning establishment at the height of the search frenzy; and (d) he dumped the body at a place the prosecution hasn't proven he ever visited during the required time frame. I won't bother going into the bug stuff here.
The theory that preumes INNOCENCE assumes (a) that hair and fiber can be easily transferred, (b) that an inquisitive and apparently bright child -- one who was prone not only to nosebleeds but also whom had been scratched by the piss-happy, magically barkless 'Layla" -- might explore an unlocked motor home found along the path to the local park; (c) there is zero proof that Mr. Westerfield ever viewed said pornography, regardless of its 'organization' into folder's (if someone needs an explanation of how it is possible to 'organize' pics into folders without being aware of contents during download, I'll be happy to detail although I've done so in previous posts); and (d) , there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO evidence of DW's interests in young children or even teenagers.
Two theories. Without the prosecution providing ONE SINGLE SHRED OF EVIDENCE that Westerfield ever entered the van Dam house or even was on their property that night -- and keeping in mind the fact the jury must presume any "reasonable" innocent theory over a "guilty" theory that has little credence (save evidence dealt with above), is there any real doubt as to what the correct verdict should be?
Be aware that I am NOT saying Westerfield is innocent. I'm only saying the state hasn't proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the parameter our criminal justice system is based on, and the one on which this trial revolves.
I will be happy to hear your input/response.
Stiv
Uhhhh, excuse me...but I do believe the rape and murder of one's child qualifies as something completely different....
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth....Now that's a fair trial......
1. Brenda awake at 8:15am. Got up at 8:25
2.Took shower and dressed. I'm allowing 30 min. for this but could be less.
3.Goes down stairs 9am. Starts breakfast,neighbors kids come over sometime between 9 and 9:30am.
4 Goes upstairs to get Danielle finds her missing.
5.Calls 911 at 9:39am according to time stamp on emergency call.
Damon up at 8am
Derrick already up/maybe Dylen,too. Damon made poptarts for boys and waffle for himself.Brenda came down,started doing the dishes/Damon took garbage out.Then what? Damon: We went back upstairs for awhile. After that,what happened? Came back down stairs and she started to make breakfast for the kids. The neighbor kids came over. What time did the neighbor kids come over,if you can estimate? 9:00,around 9.
Not placing much importance on the difference in time that Brenda and Damon give here. Understandable we don't check out clock every time we make a move. I do wonder with this tight schedule when they found the time to go back upstairs "for awhile". If Damon was saying this to indicate he and she had a quickie then he must be akin to a rabbit or a monkey. Or he could have been trying to state he had no sex with Barbara during the 2/3/or 4am party.
Dusek asked Brenda what she saw when she entered Danielle's room. Brenda says, a "Bean Bag and Big Dog." Dusek means the style of bed,Brenda says an empty bed.
What did you do? I asked Damon if he had seen her. And he said--I asked him if she slept in her bed because sometimes she would sleep--they liked to sleep in Derricks room. He has an extra bed.What did he say? He said he tucked her into her bed. What did you do then Ma'am? I looked in the bathroom because sometimes she gets up and she'll sit there for a little while. And I started calling her name. I started looking under the beds......
I asked him if she slept in her bed......
Could Brenda not tell if the bed had been slept in or not,just by looking at the bed? Dent in pillow? Covers untucked if Damon tucked her in? All of this in 9 minutes?
I have thought from the very beginning or after hearing testimony(PH) that whatever happened to Danielle happened after 8:30pm and before 1:45am. More likely when and why Layla tore her bed apart.This part is just my speculation and nothing more. The above time line etc. is from PH testimony.
The background info on the Van Dams was so bad the judge wouldn't let Feldman introduce it...So I don't know what it is, and you know that.
And Greg, you just want to argue, so go suck on a lemon...
sw
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