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.

[Jaded]

It could well be just another rumor. I posted it for your reading enjoyment. It'll be a long summer before the trial.

[Valpal1]

Well, I didn't believe the other rumors blabbed by unnamed LEO on Rick Robert's. See where that got me. LOL

If this rumor is true, IMHO, it is a slam-dunk for the prosecutor.

If it is true, it means DW wanted to be caught and stopped, and that's why he made so many "mistakes".

[tutstar]

Is there a trial date yet? Can Westerfield exercise "right to a speedy trial" to get it to trial asap?

[MizSterious]

"First of all, there is evidence that Westerfield was watching her. Apparently one of his upstairs windows faces her bedroom (the houses are on hill, with Westerfield's UP the hill from the Van Dam's)..."

From the overhead pics of the neighborhood posted on another thread, this doesn't seem likely. The house is across the street, with one house in between Westerfield's. The terrain is not very hilly at all, basically flat, and certainly not that much difference in the height of Westerfield's lot and the one directly across the street. I think your friend mighta been had.

[RangeRatt]

I believe I heard it was set to go to trial on March 28th, but I could be wrong- anyone heard any different?

[MizSterious]

Legal types can correct me, but I think the 28th is the arraignment, and they should set the date for the actual trial then--but I'm not an attorney or even a paralegal.

[bvw]

'Cept that gag was after the "pervert Westerfield pedophile kid killer" horse was out of the barn, and the camel's nose of the full ramifications of the VD sex and drugs was hardly in the tent.

So the effect of the gag was (perhaps) to hold the harm on Westerfield while keeping it from the VD's.

[Doc Savage]

First of all, what is a Valpall???

Loved your brilliant comment about the house being an EASY MARK for an amateur.

I have neighbors right next door who like to drink and party late in their house. They also have a young daughter.

So according to you, I shouldn't have any trouble at all just brazenly walking in (I'm an amateur don't you know) and abducting her some night.

Of course there are just a few problems. I've never been inside their home and it's a different model than mine. She has two brothers sleeping upstairs. I don't know which room is hers, I think they may have an alarm system, but I don't know for sure. They don't have a dog, but I guess I could always step on their cat's tail in the dark. Then there's the parents. If I'm seen by one of them abducting her I had better be prepared to kill both of them and or the boys right on the spot. After all, they'd just have to call the police and I'd be toast.

Maybe Westerfield is the luckiest guy in the world to invade a neighbor's home, steal their daughter, and no one has the slightest idea he's been there or that anything even happened. Maybe he did it. And maybe he didn't.

I have three pairs of binocs. I use them to watch birds. I guess if you looked hard enough you might even find one of my wife's Victoria's Secret catalogues nearby one of them. Doeasn't make me a perv.

Regardless if Westerfield did it or not, the van Dam's are sleazy white trash. No way those boys should be allowed to stay in the same house with these degenerates. Where the hell is child services when you need them.

Then again, this is Californicatia. Doc Savage (Named after the famous paperback detective)

[quimby]

I suppose you would know that IF the VD's perjured themselves, they'd be charged with it!!

Um, kim, lying to the cops is not perjury in a legal sense. BTW, are th PH transcripts available yet? Heard they would be released today.

[bvw]

True in general case -- yet that is in the far outfield of circumstantial proof. Say there might even one or more predators in the greater VD swing set. So its not much to bring in a specific case.

[rolling_stone]

First of all, there is evidence that Westerfield was watching her. Apparently one of his upstairs windows faces her bedroom (the houses are on hill, with Westerfield's UP the hill from the Van Dam's), and they found binoculars by the window, pornagraphic materials, and evidence that the blinds on that window had been repetitively pulled down in the middle as if to peek out (and there were slightly dirty areas around the pulled down in that section). Only Westerfield's finger prints are on it.

This is an LEO's dream scenario, to good to be true.

Valpal, you finally got something right, too good to be true..Danielle's bedroom is on the other side of the house from DW's. so if he was looking in any windows it would have been the parents...and of course he left his binoculars and porn stuff near the window and on his computer, so we can give this guy an IQ of what 67?

Area Photos

Oh don't forget BVD said Danielle had a bike and rode it, and had even gone to the nearby park twice alone but mommy watched from the front yard..uh hum a mom who leaves her kid alone in a store and the house and the kid has gotten out before by climbing the gate...she probably felt ignored at home and did what she darn well felt like...

Jennifer was the owner of the other prints in the MV, checked against 18 know prints..no last name given indicates to me a minor.....

Lets see his MH is stored in a remote area with 8-10 feet of underbrush, ability to sneak in and bury body, but it is found on Dehesa Rd near area known to be used by mountain bikers..and DVD did or does own a Mountain bike...nothing to see here, PD has cleared them,,,FBI cleared Allan Aldrich too for years with Polygraph...

Must be coincidence VD's supposedly sign TD for 50K line of credit on their house on 2/4/02..when did they file application for that? Hey personally I hope someone convincingly confesses so the doubt can be removed...sooner the better...

[demsux]

First of all, there is evidence that Westerfield was watching her. Apparently one of his upstairs windows faces her bedroom (the houses are on hill, with Westerfield's UP the hill from the Van Dam's), and they found binoculars by the window, pornagraphic materials, and evidence that the blinds on that window had been repetitively pulled down in the middle as if to peek out (and there were slightly dirty areas around the pulled down in that section). Only Westerfield's finger prints are on it.

We've seen the photos of the neighborhood...that sounds like bs to me

[bvw]

My neighbors can see into my daughter's bedrooom from theirs, and the husband might get porno magazines -- I know becuase some rare times the mail has been misdirected and my mailbox got porno mag offer directed to him.

Yet that is no problem for I and my wife both have sure that she keeps that window with curtains drawn always, and a light blocking shade at night.

Where were the Van Dam parents on this modesty issue in their own daughter's bedroom?

[quimby]

Good points. Were the PH transcripts released today ?

[tutstar]

From what I see, modesty is a non-issue with lots of parents. Every girl wants to look like Britney Spears...right? NOT!!!

[rolling_stone]

I can't say for sure that he didn't have help, but I CAN say that the police are about 99% sure they have their man. The very first day she was missing, the search dogs were brought out and they went right to Westerfield's house to his garage and front door!

Interesting the dogs alerted..why then didn't the PD put out an all points bulletin? they would have his SUV and MH license plates and vehicle and personal description from neighbors...he went to the Silver Strand State Park where Park Rangers are stationed..he drove back to his house Saturday and talked to one of his neighbors...with his MH parked down the street...about 10 days later the PD brings in a Bloodhound from Riverside..for what? If the dogs already alerted? Is this bloodhound better at testifying in court than the other pooches? Oh why would the dogs hit on his garage, reportedly his garage is half full of stuff and he parks in driveway...

Are you stirring the "pot" here... LOL....Actually I am waiting patiently to hear what the dog handlers have to say...discussion is good for us!!!

[HamiltonJay]

Sorry all, I am not defending the VD's, but I have no reason to believe the police have the wrong man. I don't know about you, but nothing I own has the blood of my neighbors kids on it, let alone my jacket or any of my vehicles. Let alone the blood of a neighbor child who recently disappeared. You are all asking way too much in coincidences, I don't believe in them.

I am sorry I am just not buying the framed/scapegoat conspiracy horsecrap. Just see a bunch of people making moral judgements against a parents sexual habbits with nothing evidence wise to back it up. Claims of purjury against the VD's. I am sorry, I saw one community let off a guilty man due to his skin color alone in my lifetime, not going to go along with another mob letting another monster off because of some sexual activities.

[wonders]

Mr. Jay,

Thank you for your reply and your thought-out response.

I have zero interest in the parents' "sexual habits" as you put it. In fact, I wish this were not a factor in this case (only makes for sensationalism in FR theads like this, not productive). In my opinion, the VDs are trashy people, and trashy people are plain boring. They are sadly all alike.

One of my interests in this case, I must admit, is working the puzzle --could DW have possibly done it? If so, how? Could someone else have possibly done it in a more believable manner? Could he have really done it alone?

Neither do I believe in convenient coincidences. But something about this case just doesn't add up.

Skin colour/race does not appear to be an issue in this case. Everybody's whitebread here. Not only are they whitebread, they all have more $ than they can reasonably account for. Which makes one ask questions.

What does appear to be an issue in this case is a questionable DA up for re-election, with an arrest (without a body) in such a high-profile case made just in time for the run-off. Still, the DA didn't do so well in the primary. So take that for what you will.

As for a frame-job, unless there is some unexpected evidence of mafia involvement, I give no credence to the frame-up theories. I believe this was a crime of passion of some sort, and crimes of passion don't usually involve frame-ups (unless some time after the fact, given opportunity, the true culprit wishes to point a finger at another, in which case "three fingers point right back").

I am aware that some theorize the blood was planted, etc. I consider that ridiculous, as I know that blood composition alters quite dramatically upon death. (Sorry folks, you simply can't take blood from a dead body and plant it so easily.) It would have taken considerable resources (as in mafia) to plant any blood that night. I highly doubt that an organized crime ring carefully planned the poor child's murder and had vials of her blood at the ready to frame DW. Whether an organised crime ring indeed had something to do with her death remains open to serious consideration, however. Check the latest news and decide for yourself.

Again, if DW is truly the guilty one, and the only guilty one, I'll be relieved. Relieved I don't have to worry about my old friend's daughter, my own Goddaughter, and can rest easy that she is reasonably safe.

For now, I have something of a question in my mind. Is that not natural for one in my situation? Don't we want to be sure that the creeps and predators are really behind bars and our loved ones safe from them?

Best regards, wonders

[prairie dog]

I can't say for sure that he didn't have help, but I CAN say that the police are about 99% sure they have their man. The very first day she was missing, the search dogs were brought out and they went right to Westerfield's house to his garage and front door!

I thought the police tracker dog(s) lost the scent at the concrete street in front of the vd's.

[demsux]

I am aware that some theorize the blood was planted, etc.

I don't think blood was planted, I just have not heard confirmation that the blood on his jacket and in the motor home is the girl's.

BTW, the dog's going to his house is easily explained by the cookie sales