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.

[rolling_stone]

Riot in L.A.

Gone to the dogs

[RangeRatt]

there is a point where it goes from "menage a trois" & "foursome" to just being a "big, sweaty pile".

[RangeRatt]

there is a point where it goes from "menage a trois" & "foursome" to just being a "big, sweaty pile".

[wonders]

ROFL! You guys are hilarious tonight! Had to clean clean my keyboard.

[wonders]

Also the in the closet, my problem is after drinking, and standing there for at least an hour? Was the dog the one that peed? Sorry, but that was actually my first thought, what'd he do sneak across the hall to the bathroom? Maybe guys function differently? Heaven knows they function differently in so many other areas....

Yep, they sure do, poor things. The men I know pee more often than women, and the older they get, the more often they have to pee.

[RnMomof7]

I think the child was no more available than polly klaas who was snatched out of her bedroom in front of people. Sometimes things just happen out of luck or planning. Of course, if it is because that the vd's handed her over to him..icckk.. I can't even fathom it. That has been mentioned before too.

Well seeing her dad defend drug use in the home maked me wonder what kind of shape he may have been in that night

[RnMomof7]

Ping)))) there are lots of cry babies on FR these days..

[FresnoDA]

Status Of Danielle van Dam in Dehesa

A few days after the Sabre Springs memorial to Danielle van Dam was taken down, people are still going to the memorial in Dehesa where her body was found.

Flowers, notes to Danielle and other items are still being dropped off in Dehesa.

Some teddy bears were taken to a thrift store in Santee.

"A lot of them were real wet and muddy on the bottoms and the sides from being out in the rain, so we took some old clothes and soaked them out as best as we could... and then we took hair brushes and brushed all the mud out and fluffed them all up so we could put them out," said Leslie Huskey of the Purple Heart Store.

Hundreds of other stuffed animals were taken to the Polinsky Center for Children.

[FresnoDA]

As for Westerfield sitting in his house....looking through the windows with Binoculars into the VD home....

Look at the layout.  It is BRAVO SIERRA.......

DBA

[RangeRatt]

Wonderful debunking of that theory, FDA! I love the satellite imagery - why haven't we seen this before?

[MizSterious]

I think it was posted on another thread--I'd seen it before, which is why I suspected that Jaded's friend had been snookered on this story.

[demsux]

OT...does anyone know why "Latest Posts" shows the same threads as "Latest Articles" when starting FR?

[RangeRatt]

now, all we need is to find out if one of those high-speed x-ray imaging satellites was over Sabre Springs on the night Danielle disappeared, download the images, analyze them, and...no...wait...that'd take all the fun out of it...forget I said anything....</sarcasm off>

[oremus]

ping

[Amore]

I think the child was no more available than Polly Klaas who was snatched out of her bedroom in front of people. Sometimes things just happen out of luck or planning. Of course, if it is because that the vd's handed her over to him..icckk.. I can't even fathom it. That has been mentioned before too.

I’ve been offline almost totally this past week, and haven’t read most of the posts on this thread, but I’ve seen several references to the Polly Klaas case as supposed evidence to indicate that we are wrong to criticize the VDs behavior. However, in the Klaas case, the alarm was immediately raised that Polly was missing. Unfortunately, in spite of that, she was still murdered. But in her case, Polly was taken by a stranger with no ties to the neighborhood. OTOH, if an alarm had been quickly raised in Danielle’s case, the outcome could have been much different because Westerfield WAS a neighbor, a very near neighbor. If Danielle’s absence had been determined quickly, an immediate hue and cry would have been raised, and a house-to-house search and inquiry could have been conducted. Danielle’s presence could have been detected before Westerfield could spirit her away. But of course thanks to the VDs lack of vigilance, Westerfield had all the time in the world to get Danielle away from the neighborhood before her absence was even detected.

[Jaded]

#649- I'm busted. That friend gave me BS. Not only is the street not terribly slanted, her room is on the opposite side of the house, completely out of sight.

We "discussed" it this morning, it wasn't terribly unpleasant. She completely trusts her source and thinks I'm just being stubborn and how do I know that I can trust what I get here. The correct response was that here on FR we don't have alot of PC/touchy feely soccer mom/the government loves us and is always right types. We also do extensive research. I also explained to her about the way rumors start. Gee, I'm glad we don't work in the same department anymore.

I defer to your wisdom Fres, and beg your forgiveness for posting such absolute tripe.

[RnMomof7]

He must have EXCELLENT eyes!

[Jaded]

He ate all of his carrots as a child.

[Freedom2specul8]

Yeah, I noticed that too. In small print, you'll see a link at the top of the page, it reads "Click here to view Articles and comments.", however you can change your bookmarks to this to get back to the regular latest posts page.

http://www.freeRepublic.com/perl/latest?forum=1&ao=0

[RangeRatt]

it would be eyesight similar in nature to what I had to have to SEE the ocean from "Oceanview Apartments" in Oceanside, CA. many years ago...in other words, didn't happen then, not happening now.