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.

[fivecatsandadog]

Ever hear of menage a trois or foursome?

a trois = 3

[MizSterious]

You are right, partially. Seems the dogs had "hits" on a large number of the houses, though, probably because of the cookie selling. To my knowledge, they never "went directly to" Westerfield's, although his was one of the hits.

[spectre]

LOL! :~).....cute little happy face grins :<))

sw

[MizSterious]

They probably wouldn't need warrants if the owners gave permission--if it were someone lost, most home owners would probably be doing everything possible to help find her, including opening the doors to police and their dogs.

[wonders]

The defendant removes a living, but unconscious Danielle (nitrous oxide, available/cheap/effective), takes her somewhere (to MH at Poway),possibly travels some small amount of time/distance before he kills her and drives in MH to Dahesa Rd and dumps body. Returns MH to Poway, goes home before sunrise. Rest is as he states, tooled all over to distract from more local searches. Perhaps never even notices small amounts of blood until much later.

Okay, here's the timeline for that:

Approx. 3am: Abducts girl from house, immediately loads her into his SUV.
3:05-3:30: Drives to Skyridge Rd.
3:30-3:45: Transfers girl from SUV to RV and does whatever, kills her.
3:45-4:40: Drives to Dehesa Rd, dumps body
4:45-5:40: Drives back to Skyridge Rd., gets into SUV
5:40-6:05: Drives back home.

This timeline requires that DW move quick all the time, only allows 15 minutes for transferring to RV, molesting and killing and only 5 minutes for dumping the body. No allowance for driving somewhere else to kill girl, couldn't fit that in.

Possible, but seems far-fetched.

[MizSterious]

Thank you! I'll try to turn the teevee on early. (I don't usually have it on until later in the day.)

[wonders]

Ref your #444: You're right.

[bvw]

That would take a whole lot of Red Bull drinking to get that manic energy.

[spectre]

Damon tried to help. Yes, he did. When the story first broke, he asked his neighbor if he had seen "Danielle because she was known to be a sleepwalker".

On the witness stand, Damon meekly admitted she may have "sleepwalked" once or twice to the bathroom.

Why is this important? Because Damon wanted to establish an alibi for Danielle's disappearance, from the get-go. But then, Westerfield became a better alibi, so he didn't have to use the sleep-walking anylonger, IMHO.

sw

[Kerensky]

There were people in that house that evening and early morning, and Westerfield wasn't one of them, that's all.

The theory that Danielle's abduction was due to a drug turf war has been mentioned. Whoever left Danielle in plain sight (albiet under a tree) with identifying jewelry still on (minus her clothing) appeared to be sending a message to the van Dams.

Lets say that the van Dams understand the message, and realize that DW had nothing to do with the murder, but are under threat of death and/or arrest if they reveal their involvement in drug smuggling.

DW is the "designated suspect" and if we follow through with this hypothesis can even posit that corrupt elements of the San Diego police are on the take and are following along.

The van Dams have taken a mortgage on the house and are not doubt planning a civil lawsuit against "rich man" Westerfield when the opprtunity arises.

[wonders]

That would take a whole lot of Red Bull drinking to get that manic energy.

ROFL! Now, if it turns out police found lots of empty Red Bull cans in the RV, we know they got their man!

[Mrs.Liberty]

Re: TImeline:

Is there evidence of her in the SUV?

I a mentally trying to time the distance btw Poway and Dehesa. Is he speeding? A speeding RV would be a magnet for the CHP, even at that hour. 10-15 minutes to the I-15/I-8 intersection, about 20-25 minutes to El Cajon, then maybe another 15 minutes to Dehsa Road. So that could be within the timeline. But I am only guessing here.

[fnord]

That kind of timeline is full of problems, aint it? Of course, right now, we have no idea of:

• When the child was removed/left the house.
• Whether she was alive or dead already
• When (and how) she died
• When her body left at the dump site

AFAIK, no evidence of child was found in the SUV, so that makes the transportation even more problematic.

Other unanswered questions: If DW did it, he took a big chance remaining at home until about 9:30 the next day (not knowing when the child would be noticed missing). Even more, returning home in his RV Saturday afternoon, finding the neighborhood swarming with searchers, blithely going to his house for a while, then departing again. Amazing balls, if you have a kidnapped child in your vehicle, or evidence thereof.

[MizSterious]

"People are destroyed based on rumors."

Really? It looks like the Clintons are doing just fine, and they've fueled and worn out so many rumor mills that the rumor industry has never had it so good. And guess what? So far, as far as I know (I might have missed some), every single one of those "rumors" turned out to be true. Blue dresses, rapes, assaults, criminal enterprise. No, I look at rumors, and consider them at least worth investigating. If we had dismissed the Clinton rumors, what a bunch of dufuses we'd have been--Free Republic would be little better than the Democratic Underground. Blind sheep, instead of following the money and other trails.

Most of us here are putting those same "sniff-it-out" skills to work on this case. We play with scenarios, we look at the cast of characters. Who has a self-serving reason to make a certain kind of statement? Where did someone's income originate? What is the terrain like? What about the house plan? What do we know about x, y, and z?

Many of us are doing this because we've been on Free Republic for years, and have done this very thing in the political and international arenas. (Did you know freepers were on the case following the money and other trails of the 9/11 terrorists, making connections that would later be published as fact? Freepers are darned good investigators!) These days, it's how we look at everything. Even a child abduction and murder. Just because some suit stands in front of a podium at a news conference and says it's what happened, that doesn't mean we have to buy it. We look deeper than the quick newsbite or headline.

Many of us took a beating for it from the "sheeple," now I see we're taking a beating for it from "Freepers." Go figure.

[fivecatsandadog]

This timeline requires that DW move quick all the time, only allows 15 minutes for transferring to RV, molesting and killing and only 5 minutes for dumping the body. No allowance for driving somewhere else to kill girl, couldn't fit that in.

Westerfield left the bar at 11 or 11:30 p.m. to go home, and when he got back to his house on Mountain Pass Road, he noticed that neither Brenda's nor Damon's vehicle was parked in their driveway. He went into his home and went to bed.

Damon said he tucked his children into bed about 10 p.m., then went to bed himself a short time later. He said he woke up when his wife, her female friends and two men returned home at 1:55 a.m.

Sounds like Damon had plenty of time (4 hours) to do the dirty deed. And, as posted previously, Damon has no witnesses to verify his whereabouts between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.. The thing with the magnets and the alarm system confuses me. Let's say he sets the alarm at 10 pm, the usual routine before going to bed. But he doesn't go to bed, and he doesn't want anything to indicate that the alarm was turned off between 10 pm. and 2 a.m.. Was he trying to rig the alarm with the magnets to keep it from "going off" so he could leave and return without anything to indicate that he did?

Something was amiss between Damon and Danielle, per the entry in her journal (Daddy, please love me).
DW's bedroom window faces the VD's (Brenda and Damon) bedroom window.
Blood in DW's MH have yet to be given an "age" or conclusively identified as Danielle's. Fingerprints have yet to be given an age.
Brenda lied about dancing with DW and lied about "knowing him". Brenda could have easily been seeing DW on the side while Damon was at work. Therefore DNA, still inconclusively ID'd, on DW's stuff.
DW made it known to the VDs that he held adult parties.
Somebody did something bad to Danielle and wants to blame someone else.
Luck would have it, that the "evidence" points to the neighbor.
Why was Damon vacuuming in the wee hours of the morning?
Where are Danielle's pajamas?
Is Damon familiar with the paths around Dehesa Road?

Until the DNA is proven WITHOUT A DOUBT to be Danielle's, and DW's DNA is found on Danielle, I have doubts that DW is guilty.

[MizSterious]

"I want to know if there is a connection between the sdpd and defense pit bull attny."

And some might also wonder if several people here were hired by the van Dam's "pit bull" P.R. firm. I've seen the question asked on a few posts, and in freepmail. See how easy it is to make the wrong connections?

[MizSterious]

"...we've already put them out for sale."

These money grubbing....(censored)!! Please tell me they're not auctioning them off at eBay!! Why on earth would they put them up for sale?? Why not donate them to hospitals or toys for tots or something???

[MizSterious]

Roberts made statements that did not mince words. Which ones do we now know are untrue? Which are yet to be proven? Please list them. (Hint: Fresno already did the mental heavy lifting on those questions.)

[MizSterious]

Why are the van Dams selling any of the items brought to the memorial? All of the undamaged items should have been donated. ALL.

[MizSterious]

Apology time: I misread the line where it referred to a "she said" and thought they were talking about Brenda. Ok, the van Dams just gained some respect from me on that one. They did the absolute right thing on this occasion.