Posted on 03/01/2002 4:04:47 PM PST by FresnoDA
Mourners gather at site where Danielle's body was found
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By Seth Hettena ASSOCIATED PRESS March 1, 2002
"The memory of her soul compelled me to come down here and say a last goodbye," Davis said Friday, cradling her 7-month-old daughter and wiping away tears. "To actually see the place where her innocent sweetness was lying under a tree." Davis, 26, added white flowers to a growing memorial of messages, bouquets, a pink teddy bear and a stuffed blue bunny that marks the place where authorities believe a neighbor dumped Danielle's body weeks ago. Dental records confirmed Thursday that remains found by a rural roadside 25 miles east of San Diego were those of the little girl, who vanished from her bedroom Feb. 2. The cause of death could not immediately be determined and may never be because of the body's state of decomposition, said Police Chief David Bejarano. Further tests were under way. Danielle's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, said the unflagging efforts of more than 2,500 volunteers who searched a vast area stretching from the ocean to the desert left them with "an overwhelming sense of gratitude and closure." "With love for an innocent child and for one another, the community has brought her back to us, and for that gift we offer our most sincere and heartfelt thanks," the van Dams said in a statement. "Even though the final outcome is horrible, we could not have imagined the rest of our lives without this closure." A memorial service is expected later this month. A neighbor, David Westerfield, 50, was charged Tuesday with murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. He has pleaded innocent and is being held without bond. Authorities said they found traces of Danielle's blood in Westerfield's motor home and on an article of his clothing. The self-employed engineer spent the weekend of Danielle's disappearance traveling in his motor home, stopping in the desert east of the city, authorities said. A hunch led volunteers to the area the remote road was one Westerfield might have taken the weekend Danielle disappeared, said Bill Garcia, a private detective who coordinated searches. Nearby residents said they were unsettled by the discovery of Danielle's body so close to home. "It kind of sickens us," said Charles O'Neill, 28, who lives about a mile away. "We've been driving by this road every day for the past month and knowing she's that close is something we never would have imagined." |
Like I said..if we are ''into conspiracies'', I would question the perps attny..he's reported to be a pitbull by fellow attorneys..see if he's got something going on with Rick Robers..cuz according to the time line, rick roberts nailed the parents AFTER the perp hired the attny..
2. February 9, 2002 Radio talk-show conversations questioned the lifestyle of Brenda and Damon
To: sneakypete
Sneakypete has been banned!
Seems the Van Dam's may be the ones with the conflicting timeline.
Whoa.......what did he do? Hilarious !!!!!!
Uhmm...Feldman is a Pitbull.....as for his relationship with Rick Roberts? Dunno??
'A trial dog': Defense attorney in girl's kidnapping case is widely respected for his relentless legal tactics |
February 23, 2002
Fellow lawyers tend to make references to dogs when they talk about criminal defense attorney Steven Feldman.
They call him a "pit bull" or "a trial dog," or they compare him to a dog with a bone. They mean these things as a compliment for the most part.
Feldman is the attorney for David Westerfield, the self-employed Sabre Springs engineer who was arrested yesterday in the disappearance of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.
A former University of California Berkeley student activist, Feldman has a reputation as one of the most tenacious and talented criminal defense attorneys in San Diego. His colleagues in the legal community talk about his relentless work habits, his withering cross-examinations and his obsessive attention to detail.
Although Westerfield remains something of an enigma, most San Diego lawyers say he appears to have excellent judgment when it comes to choosing legal representation.
Feldman has become a familiar face on the evening news in the weeks since he was hired by Westerfield, who lives near the missing girl's family and whose house has been searched by police.
The attorney has developed a regular routine of giving exasperated no-comments to the throng of reporters as he scurries to his car and slams the door. He didn't return several phone calls seeking comment for this story.
"If you're in a murder trial with him, you're in a war," said San Diego prosecutor Garland Peed, who heads the district attorney's gang unit. "If you underestimate him or are unprepared, he will hand you your head on a platter."
San Diego defense lawyer Kerry Steigerwalt, who has handled several high-profile murder cases, called Feldman "tireless."
"No one who is a client of Steve Feldman can complain that they have a lawyer who isn't aggressive," Steigerwalt said.
Feldman's confrontational style can get on his opponents' nerves. Prosecutor Richard McCue said Feldman comes across as "a noisy, aggressive guy" and "a jerk." He tends to raise objections at a rapid-fire pace and isn't willing to concede even the most minor point.
"He can be annoying in the courtroom, there's no question about it," said San Diego prosecutor Gregg McClain, who heads the district attorney's economic fraud division. "There are no easy points. Every point is difficult. He's going to argue every objection to the hilt. He's going to take every witness to task."
Feldman has been practicing law in San Diego for more than two decades and has handled a number of high-profile cases. In the early 1980s he earned an acquittal in the case of a man who had spent more than five years in jail awaiting trial on charges of killing a Los Angeles jeweler at a Calexico motel. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, and Feldman's work in the case earned him a public-service award from the San Diego criminal defense bar.
In 1991, in another murder case, a jury acquitted Feldman's client after deliberating only 25 minutes.
His former law partner, Elisabeth Semel, said Feldman has a knack for becoming a quick expert on the highly technical scientific issues at the heart of many murder cases. He is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys in the country in the area of the science related to time of death, Semel said.
Semel, who heads the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley's law school, said she once watched Feldman reduce a police officer to tears during a relentless cross-examination.
"He's always, always 10 steps ahead of whomever he's examining on the witness stand," she said.
A 1973 graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Feldman is married to a schoolteacher and has two children.
While some prosecutors might find his personality grating, many of them also say they enjoy competing against him in court.
San Diego prosecutor McClain said, "His job is to make our life difficult, and he excels at it."
www.runninginterferenceforbrendadamon.com
From the looks of things at this point, the van Dams have given him a huge arsenal.
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Must be my broadband connection, sometimes I forget!!! By the way, I have contributed my dear, have you???? Enquiring minds want to know!! SUPPORT FR!! Good night!
:0) FDA
You guys keep up the good fight, I am out of here. Need to give up some of the old bandwidth for Kimberly!!
I'd give you a special award for this status about which you boast, but you slaughtered this sentence so badly that I'll have to withhold it.
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