Feldman's Questions Show Defense Strategy: Dig into Damon and Brenda van Dam's Private Lives!

KNSD NBC ^ | March 19, 2002 | Lynn Stuart

[FresnoDA]

Experts say attorney Steven Feldman's questioning of the van Dams gives clues to the strategy he will pursue during the trial.

Feldman's questions show defense strategy by Lynn Stuart

SAN DIEGO, March 15 –    When the parents of Danielle van Dam testified Thursday at a hearing to decide if the murder case should go to trial, it gave the suspect's attorney, Steven Feldman, an opportunity to grill them.

Much of the questioning may have seemed like needless digging into the couple's private lives, but experts say Feldman was laying groundwork for his defense.

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At times during the long day of questioning, Brenda and Damon van Dam appeared openly exasperated by the tough questioning dished out by Feldman. The attorney for murder defendant David Westerfield focused on the couple's drug use, their alleged "swinging lifestyle," and lies they told to police early in the investigation into Danielle van Dam's disappearance. Many of his questions were ruled irrelevant, and at times it appeared to the untrained observer that the attorney was asking the same questions over and over as he tried to find a wording that satisfied the judge. But legal experts gave Feldman's savvy courtroom performance high marks.

"It may just look like not much was happening, but Steve Feldman really got in there, he did his homework and he got the answers to the questions he needed to get," criminal defense lawyer Gretchen von Helms said.

Some of the questioning was an attempt to catch the van Dams in inconsistencies. If Feldman can show that Brenda or Damon answered Thursday in ways that contradict or were inconsistent with their past statements or the testimony of others, it could hurt the prosecution's case when it goes before the future jury.

One example is when Feldman questioned Brenda about her night out at Dad's Cafe.

"You just told me you don't recall dancing with David Westerfield. Is that true?" Feldman asked.

"Yes," Brenda answered.

Feldman claims that he has witnesses who will testify that they saw Brenda dancing with Westerfield the night before Danielle was discovered missing. That could raise doubts about the mother among jurors, legal observers said.

"He wasn't asking those questions for anything but preparing a transcript so that he can use that for impeaching those witnesses at trial and he did that very effectively.," von Helms said. Feldman peppered both parents with questions about their drug use.

"How often did you smoke marijuana?' he asked.

During the preliminary hearing, the judge ruled that many of Feldman's questions about the van Dams' lifestyle were irrelevant. But during the trial, the defense will be permitted more latitude, and von Helms expects Feldman to bring up the subject again.

"It opens up to the defense to go in an say not only were they doing drugs and having sex and all these other things, which in one side of it, but also that it affected their ability to be parents," von Helms said.

The questioning also gave Feldman a chance to see how the van Dam's react to his questions. How the van Dams appear to a jury could plant seeds of doubt that affect their deliberations on Westerfield's guilt. Legal experts say if the parent's don't show any more emotion in trial than they did in court today, that factor alone could hurt them with a jury.

[Nita Nupress]

The one thing about the Candyman investigation that caught my eye was that a San Diego policeman was supposedly one of those caught in the bust.

Yes, that's what made me have the thought. If anyone in the van Dam criminal case was a member of the Candyman pedophile website, then it would probably be common knowledge among San Diego law enforcement that the email group was now going to be under investigation by the FBI. And news probably travels fast in both the pedophile crowd and the law enforcement crowd. Just a thought...

[rolling_stone]

Uh what meticulous cleaning of the MH? where did you get that BS from? And what behaviour at his house while it was being searched?

[MizSterious]

He cooperated. To some, I guess, that would be "suspect."

[MizSterious]

I was thinking in terms of "what if he was one of the investigators on this case," but your thought it even more intriguing.

[rolling_stone]

Note to self, don't be overcooperative, next time don't talk to police, don't let them in house, instead burn motorhome to destroy evidence, stock up on anti-perspirant, dont sweat profusely, Don't return home saturday afternoon with body in RV when search is ongoing! don't let dogs get near, don't show police scratches on arms, wear long sleeves, don't have clothes dry cleaned after trip....don't let kids play in MH, don't go anywhere without an alibi...and don't forget to delete porn on computer when you are a suspect!

[bvw]

Where is your sarcasm,anyway? Looks like it came from the excuse drawer to me.

[HamiltonJay]

Folks, all reported in various publications since his arrest. When his house was being searched cops say he was pointing out places to look, as if helping them not the normal behaviour of someone whos house is being searched. (sounds to me like an arrogant guy who thought he could get away with murder) The RV being cleaned was also reported as well... The trial will progress and we will see what happens, but sorry the defense strategy is to attack the parents sex lives, just as the people here are doing...

Blood in the RV, blood on his jacket, body found along path where he claimes to have gone, RV cleaned, lied to police, bizarre behavior during house search.. far too much "coincidence" for my taste. All I see is people here who want to hang the parents for their sex lives, and ignore the facts regarding this predator.

How about you guys go read some ok:

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020314-9999_1n14feldman.html

[Nita Nupress]

...but your thought it even more intriguing.

Your thought it weren't bad either. LOL. ;-)

(Later! Gotta run...)

[bvw]

HJ, we have read that article and discussed it, you are late to the party. And Westerfield's actions when the police searched his house could also be those of a complete innocent having nothing to hide.

Did *you* know that Westerfield is the inventor and designer of a number of very useful surgical joint replacements?

[rolling_stone]

Well I read the paper, fortunatley I don't believe every thing I read in the papers, like DW's DNA being in danielle's room, 67000 porn pics, bleached his motorhome etc..and if someone was looking for a child in my house I think it would be reasonable for me to point out areas they might not know about...not exactly what I call a nail in the coffin and very subjective..as for the blood, I have said before it doesn't look good for DW whether he was framed or not...

[Jaded]

1. The cleaning wasn't meticulous. That was testified to in the PH.

2. Blood was a spot not a bloodbath, as some would like to believe.

3. Did you have his travel plans and road map? Or was the connection the casino that he is a member of but has not been to recently. That will be testified to by the manager of the casio.

4. Behavior? That he was cooperative? Hostility on his part would get the same press coverage.

5. The VD's sent the police...and perjured themselves.

[Jaded]

And then the parents testified....

[MizSterious]

"The RV being cleaned was also reported as well.."

Bzzt! Wrong answer. See, if you'd watched the (sworn) testimony at the hearing, you'd know that the story fed to the media about the "heavily cloroxed motorhome" was not true. On the stand, the policeman who led the dog on the search of the m.h. said it did not in fact smell of clorox, and the dogs apparently had no trouble with that. He did, in fact, clean the motorhome when he got back, as he always did after using it according to those who knew his habits.

"...lied to police..."

Bzzt! Wrong again. So far, the only parties that seem to have lied to the police are the vDs. At this point, they can find no lies from Westerfield. Witnesses agreed with him that he danced with Mrs. VD, for instance.

"When his house was being searched cops say he was pointing out places to look..."

This one might or might not be true. One report I've read says that they asked him where certain things were--computers, etc.--and he told them. This was not, according to that source (not 100% verifiable, because it was on one of the message boards), the same thing as saying, hey, you'd better look here, and hey, don't forget to look there. No tacky buzzer for this one, though, because I prefer a better source before I declare it a "fact."

Which brings us to the blood and the dna. How much blood was found, and where was the dna--and whose was it?

[Mrs.Liberty]

We have discussed this article as well as every article printed by the UT extensively, in addition to running commentary on the PH. BTW There is no evidence introduced yet or leaked to the media that places DW at the site where the body was found. Tiretracks or shoe prints may possibly do that. The site is not even remotely close to his route taken on the weekend Danielle was abducted/killed. Of course I would not expect him to take them by the site when he retraced his route for SDLE. That he was aware of the road because of his membership at the nearby casino is likely but there is no hard evidence placing him there.

The media myth of the bleached RV was contradicted at the PH.

We do not know if DW has lied, as he has not yet spoken.

There is no evidence yet placing him inside the VD's home.

[MizSterious]

We do know the statements he's given police, or the gist of them. Some we won't know about until the trial, but one that really sticks out was that he claimed to have danced with Mrs. VD at the bar. She denied it, and many believe that Westerfield lied. However, at the hearing, statements were entered into record that witnesses observed Mrs. VD dancing with Westerfield--for quite a while. So now we know Westerfield told the truth about that, at least. And the VDs lied, several times in fact, not just about that.

[Mrs.Liberty]

Yes, you are correct!

[bvw]

The pre-trial media spin seems to be to protect the Van Dams at all costs to laying out the facts squarely. The facts are that it hasn't been shown beyond reasonable that Danielle was murdered, nor that she was sexually molested before death, nor even that she was abducted or last left her house alive. The Van Dam's "lifestyle" introduces a lot of possible suspects, and their drug use introduces even more -- all with libertine or trash morals which make things like investigations take longer and testimonies be more suspect.

It leaves one to wonder just how high the percentage of swingers in the general media are? We know from the poll results that the general public does not trust teh Van Dams, yet the media presentations do not well reflect the public's read.

[bvw]

The young jay hawk has flown off, perhaps to take up his homework in this matter.

[demsux]

bookmark

[Mrs.Liberty]

his trip just coinciding with where the body was found, another coincidence

I feel I must point out again: His trip was to the desert and the beach, not to East County San Diego (Dehesa), where the body was found. That is not to say he did not make a side trip..but you should know all the facts before you spout off that his trip coincided with where the body was found. It is not even close.