New physical evidence about Danielle van Dam's disappearance and salacious details about her parents' sex life came out during the first week of David Westerfield's capital murder trial. Posted on 06/10/2002 10:17:56 PM PDT by FresnoDA
By Kristen Green
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 9, 2002
New physical evidence about Danielle van Dam's disappearance and salacious details about her parents' sex life came out during the first week of David Westerfield's capital murder trial.
Legal experts say it's too early to determine the significance those facts will have on the outcome of the case.
The trial moved along fairly quickly, as both Brenda and Damon van Dam took the stand to testify about the events leading up to their 7-year-old daughter's disappearance. Attorneys have said the trial could last as long as 11 more weeks.
"I think there's an enormous amount to learn in this case, and we're not going to know it all until the end," said San Diego criminal defense attorney Knut Johnson, who is not involved in the trial.
The San Diego Superior Court testimony hinted at, but didn't fully explain, the prosecution's theory of how Westerfield, 50, might have entered the van Dam home and kidnapped Danielle.
Westerfield's lead attorney, meanwhile, told the jury that scientific evidence would prove his client's innocence.
In his opening statements, Steven Feldman suggested Danielle could have been kidnapped by any number of people her parents invited into their home to engage in "risque behavior." His strategy, experts say, is to raise questions in jurors' minds about whether someone other than Westerfield could have kidnapped the girl.
But Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek told the jury he has physical evidence that connects Westerfield to Danielle's death. He said the second-grader's blood, hair and fingerprints were found in Westerfield's motor home, which he occasionally parked in front of his Sabre Springs residence. When Danielle was taken from her bed, Westerfield lived two houses from the van Dams.
Dusek told the jury that Danielle's hair was also found in the trash in Westerfield's garage and that fibers similar to those in her bedroom were discovered in the motor home. The prosecutor said fibers found inside the bag in which authorities placed Danielle's body before the autopsy matched fibers in Westerfield's laundry room. Dusek didn't elaborate on what kind of fibers were found.
Danielle's nude body was discovered Feb. 27 under a tree on Dehesa Road, 25 days after her mother went to wake her for breakfast and realized she wasn't in her bed. Westerfield was arrested Feb. 22.
Throughout the first week of the trial, the attorneys showcased two completely different styles, which experts say were indicative of their personalities. Feldman is an animated performer, gesturing wildly during his opening statement and questioning of witnesses. Dusek, meanwhile, projects an image of somber dignity with his deep voice, subdued delivery and chiseled looks.
But it's hard to say whether the men's styles will have much impact on the jury deliberations.
"They're both very competent, very able in the courtroom, and they both know their case," said San Diego criminal defense lawyer Michael Pancer. "One might be more interesting to listen to than the other, but in the end, I don't think that's what matters."
Legal experts said the prosecution put Damon and Brenda van Dam on the witness stand early on to establish the sequence of events the night before Danielle disappeared.
"That's the most compelling emotional testimony in the case," Johnson said.
Damon van Dam testified that he stayed home Feb. 1 to baby-sit the couple's three children while Brenda went out to a Poway bar with two friends.
She testified that David Westerfield was at the bar when she and her friends got there, and that he bought them drinks. She said she doesn't know what time he left the bar.
Damon van Dam testified that he put the kids to bed at 10 p.m. and fell asleep before 11 p.m. He awoke at 1:45 a.m. because his dog, Layla, a Weimaraner, was whimpering. The dog doesn't bark because she grew up on a farm where the dogs had been rendered mute.
He said he let Layla into the back yard to relieve herself and then brought the dog back inside a few minutes later.
When Brenda van Dam returned about 2 a.m. with two girlfriends and two male friends who were also partying at the bar, she noticed a red light flashing on the home security system.
She searched for an open door or window and found a side garage door open. The door had been opened earlier in the evening when she and her friends were smoking marijuana in the garage.
When the couple's friends left about 2:30 p.m., after snacking on cookies and reheated pizza, Damon and Brenda van Dam went to bed.
About 3:15 or 3:30 a.m., Damon van Dam awoke and noticed a red light flashing on the security system. He went downstairs and found a sliding glass door leading to the back yard open 6 to 10 inches. He closed it and went to bed.
Experts said those details will be vital for the jury to understand how and when someone might have slipped in and out of the house.
After testifying about the sequence of events leading up to Danielle's kidnapping, the couple also answered Feldman's questions about their sex lives. Television viewers across the nation learned about Damon and Brenda van Dam's extramarital activities, as Court TV broadcast the trial live.
Brenda van Dam admitted to having sex with her two girlfriends and their partners, and Damon van Dam admitted he had sex with both of Brenda's girlfriends. He also said he didn't tell police that he smoked marijuana the night before Danielle disappeared because he didn't want to get into trouble.
Damon van Dam completed his testimony Wednesday; his wife completed hers Thursday.
It will be the jury's responsibility to decide whether any of the details of their personal life are relevant to the issue of who killed Danielle.
The couple's appearance on the witness stand drew dozens of curious San Diegans to the courthouse to vie for a seat in a courtroom filled with spectators each day.
The van Dams' testimony also was broadcast live by most local television stations, which pre-empted normal programming.
This week could be less interesting for onlookers, as experts believe the prosecution will begin presenting scientific evidence about DNA.
A gag order in the case prevents the attorneys from commenting on the case or releasing a list of the 75 witnesses they plan to call.
I don't disagree with your statement. :-) Danielle's murder is awful.
In the spirit of responding to this case as it unfolds, as an at-home juror, I can't shake the feeling that an innocent man has been set up by a group of adult brats who should know better than to do half the stuff that they admit to in court. Heaven knows what they do that they've lied about in court!
The awfulness of Danielle's death is magnified by the fact that DW stands to get the DEATH PENALTY! (ahem, excuse the scream.)
If this were a 12-20-years case, I could be more tolerant of the VD-brats. But they are giggling and playing semantics after they sicced the cops on a guy who could be dead if they're successful.
I'll eat my words if Feldman doesn't knock down the rest of the evidence as he has so far, but another death isn't the answer to the VD-brats' 'lifestyle errors.'
IMHO. (I'm not yelling at you, Kim, and thank you for the opportunity to express my thoughts at what I am seeing, listening to and reading about this case.)
don't suppose their are documents or statements that LEO has put out stating what was done to clear?
Although I think the pro-gun stuff was kiss up.
1. Kids played in the RV while mommy did the nasty with Westerfield.
The defense will never imply a relationship with Brenda, Mr. Westerfield statements to the police contradict such a thing, plus it only adds an additional revenge motive (and the 2nd most common reason men kill children is revenge against the mother) They will not go there. They will simply maintain that the physical evidence of Danielle's presence in the MH was from an unknown, unsupervised playtime.
2. (PH Docs) They don't have Danielle's unique DNA patterns. They're using mitocondrial DNA (same as Brenda's) and/or a mix of assumed mommy and daddy's. The have since performed better tests. The mitocondrial tests were done before they had a body, yet they felt they hand sufficient to arrest their suspect. The defense refused samples to do their own testing and indicated they will not argue the DNA evidence (motion to compel discovery). My take is that they will acknowledge the presence of Danielle in the MH, but attempt to explain it as having come from playing in there. I think this is why the hair cut timeline has become such an issue.
BTW, did I hear Mr. Westerfield say to the press that things were quiet in the neighborhood when he came home at 3-3:30? Yet he told police he left Dad's 10:30ish and went home to bed and stayed inside (asleep)until the following morning.
Please, somebody, tell me these women are NOT attorneys.... It seems like CTV is going out of its way to put stupid, ill informed, over-emotional women on, while the men at least have some common sense. Looks VERY bad for our gender, ladies.
Did they ask Rich, Kieth or Denise about searches? I've only read through June 10th and haven seen such.
Frustrating when they don't ask the questions I want asked!
Sounds like Danielle L might be testifying today...she has been seen in the courthouse.
Kim, you've said this on many occasions and you've been told that his use of "guilt" was in terms of "seeing enough likely guilt to take it to trial".
If he publicly states he finds the defendant guilty, he is prejudiced as a judge (to the extreme) and the case very likely gets thrown out. At the very least Feldman ask for and gets a new judge before trial begins.
I find this situation reminiscent of when Monica first came up, so to speak. The full Clinton entourage was parked on the WH lawn reciting platitudes about their friend Bill and the evil VRWC. The only thing that was missing was for them to hold hands and sing. The full press followed suit.... IMO, that's almost what this trial feels like. The underlying currents are too bizarre.
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