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Judge Allows Danielle's Dad Back In Court: (Damon was banned for MAD-DOGGING Westerfield!)
North County Times-San Diego ^ | July 13, 2002 | Kimberly Epler

Posted on 07/13/2002 6:28:25 AM PDT by FresnoDA

Judge allows Danielle's dad back in court

KIMBERLY EPLER
Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- The father of 7-year-old murder victim Danielle van Dam will be allowed to attend the remaining days of her accused murderer's trial, Judge William Mudd ruled Thursday.

But he warned Damon van Dam that one more incident will result in him being banned from the courthouse.


Two weeks ago, Judge Mudd deemed Damon van Dam a "security risk" for repeatedly staring down his daughter's accused murderer, David Westerfield, in courtroom hallways despite several warnings from sheriff's deputies and prosecutors.

Mudd then barred Damon van Dam from the third floor of the downtown San Diego courthouse where Westerfield's emotionally charged trial on charges he kidnapped and murdered Danielle is being held.

On Thursday, an attorney for the van Dam family requested that Damon van Dam be allowed back in the courtroom so he could provide emotional support to his wife, Brenda van Dam, and dispel any jury speculation that his absence meant he didn't care about the trial or that he had something to hide.

The van Dams were present at the hearing, but did not address the court.

Mudd said he believed Damon van Dam has had time to think about his actions and told him that security officials were willing to give him another chance.

"If I get one report of one incident, I will ban you from the courthouse," Mudd told van Dam.

Mudd also cautioned the couple that closing arguments in the case may push them to the limits of what they can handle. The prosecution has indicted it intends to use photos of Danielle's decomposing body while presenting its argument that Westerfield molested the second-grader before she was suffocated and her nude body dumped along a rural road.

Danielle disappeared from her second-story bedroom sometime after her father tucked her into bed on Feb. 1. The next morning she was gone. Westerfield was arrested for the crime five days before her body was discovered by search volunteers on Feb. 27.

The medical examiner has testified that her body was too badly decomposed to determine time of death or whether she was sexually assaulted.

The defense is likely to attack the van Dams' integrity and argue their lifestyle choices ---- including the van Dams' admitted drug use and previous sexual relations with other couples ---- put their children at risk. The van Dams also have two sons.

Prosecutors and the defense attorney have made it their practice to notify the judge before showing jurors graphic photographs of Danielle's body during the six-week trial so the van Dams could be asked to leave the courtroom.

Mudd said he expects the van Dams to leave if any part of the trial becomes too much for them.

"I don't think anybody is downplaying the emotion that both Mr. and Mrs. van Dam are going through," Mudd said.

Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, said Westerfield did not object to Damon van Dam returning to the courtroom, but there still were security concerns. Feldman said Damon van Dam was "mad-dogging" the defense team, or shooting dirty looks at the attorneys.

Feldman said the van Dams have been "verbally attacking" potential buyers who are looking at Westerfield's Sabre Springs home, which is two doors down from their house. Westerfield signed the house over to his attorneys.

Feldman also accused Brenda van Dam of muttering a curse word at one of Westerfield's friends who testified earlier this week.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek told Mudd that Brenda van Dam denies making any such comment and a victim witness advocate who accompanies her each day backs up her account.

Testimony in the Westerfield trial is on hold until July 22 when Mudd returns from a vacation. At Thursday's hearing, Feldman said he expects the defense will take two or three days more before resting its case. Prosecutors may then present rebuttal witnesses before closing arguments begin sometime in late July or early August.

 

Contact staff writer Kimberly Epler at (760) 739-6644 or kepler@nctimes.com.

7/12/02


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 180frank; vandam; westerfield
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To: John Jamieson
I'll see if I can find the answer for you JJ. BTW Hi!
281 posted on 07/13/2002 7:42:00 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: Rattlins
That was CHILD porn, BIG difference. (sorry pet peeve)
282 posted on 07/13/2002 7:43:49 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: Rattlins
you forgot blood hair and fiber...
283 posted on 07/13/2002 7:44:47 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
Prove that it is a big difference, show the stats!
284 posted on 07/13/2002 7:45:36 PM PDT by bvw
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
And also prove that (1) it was Westerfield's and not his sons or just spam, (2) that Damon, Brenda, Barbara, Rish and Keith had no such porn, child porn or even the worst -- child snuff films on their computers.
285 posted on 07/13/2002 7:47:47 PM PDT by bvw
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To: Rattlins
22 He uses bleach
23 He does laundry once a week
24 He goes to dry cleaners
25 He leaves patio lights on


I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that came to mind, at the moment.
286 posted on 07/13/2002 7:48:38 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: pyx
For the terminally stupid on this thread who can't comprehend evidence here ya go........

June 20, 2002 The genetic markers in blood in one stain on David Westerfield's jacket and another on the carpet of his motor home match those of Danielle van Dam, a police DNA expert testified this morning. The odds that any other Caucasian would have the same genetic markers are 1 in 130 quadrillion for one stain and 1 in 670 quadrillion for the other.

The stains are the second piece of evidence presented by the prosecution to link Westerfield to Danielle. A fingerprint examiner testified Wednesday that a fingerprint found in Westerfield's motor home belonged to Danielle.

geez you can't even keep up with the jest of this thread why would I think you could keep up with evidence. DW is a dirty,porno and bestiality pervert who killed an innocent child.....wanna borrow my rope?

287 posted on 07/13/2002 7:51:14 PM PDT by SouthernFreebird
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
Thanks Kim. Everyone is calling it blood but I don't remeber that it was tested. It does have her DNA in it showing she was in the MH. The fingerprint backs it up so it couldn't have been planted. I think it's very reasonable to conclude that she had been in the MH, but no one can say when. It is not reasonable to say that because he's been in the MH, she must have been killed by Westerfield.

What did you think of LE's claim that the MH was seen at 10:30pm on 2/1 in front of DW's, in the arrest warrents? I don't remember any testimony about that.
288 posted on 07/13/2002 7:51:47 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: SouthernFreebird
I think if we ignore you, you'll go away.
289 posted on 07/13/2002 7:54:07 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: the Deejay
26. Drinks rum and Coke.

Obvious deviant, and probalbly tortures whittle fuzzy kittens.

Hanging's too good for the bastid !

290 posted on 07/13/2002 7:56:31 PM PDT by dread78645
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To: SouthernFreebird
Besides, you didn't answer my post #277 to you.
291 posted on 07/13/2002 7:56:44 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: SouthernFreebird
I agree that Danielle was in the motor home sometime in the last 2 years. Somehow that does not equal "her blood was on him".

Even here in Texas, we got rid of most on the lynch mobs years ago. The rest of us are substituting logic and reasoning for emotional lynch mob mentality like yours.
292 posted on 07/13/2002 7:56:52 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~; Rattlins
you forgot blood hair and fiber...

And fingerprints...

293 posted on 07/13/2002 7:57:41 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: the Deejay
....and you think DW is innocent......lol......thinkings not your strong suit is it.
294 posted on 07/13/2002 7:58:31 PM PDT by SouthernFreebird
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To: Rattlins; John Jamieson
Rattlins..
http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020625-9999_1m25hair.html
Hair similar to Danielle van Dam's was found on sheets in David Westerfield's bedroom, and authorities found fibers in his motor home that appear to match fibers from the girl's bedroom carpet, a criminalist testified yesterday. Also, hairs similar to the van Dams' family dog were found in Westerfield's house, his motor home and on a comforter he dropped off at a dry cleaner, criminalist Tanya DuLaney said. DuLaney, who works in the San Diego Police Department crime lab, testified on a day when prosecutors used charts and blow-up photos in an attempt to show that traces of the 7-year-old girl were scattered throughout Westerfield's domain


JJ and Rattlins,

http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/062002_ctv.html

"SAN DIEGO — In the most damning testimony yet against David Westerfield, a DNA analyst said Thursday that blood stains on the defendant's jacket and on the carpet of his motor home match the genetic profile of his slain neighbor, Danielle van Dam.

Annette Peer of the police department's crime lab told jurors in the capital murder trial that there was only a one in 670 quadrillion chance the blood on the jacket came from someone else and a one in 130 quadrillion the carpet stain was not Danielle's.

When Peer described a quadrillion as 1 followed by 15 zeroes, two spectators in the courtroom gallery gasped. The world population stands at roughly six billion, or 6 followed by nine zeroes. "

295 posted on 07/13/2002 7:58:35 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: FresnoDA
Hah! Hah! Hah!...If he did what he did to Danielle to one of my children, the B@ST@RD never would have made it to court...

Westerfield should consider himself lucky that he is only getting flipped the bird...or whatever pranks Damon van Dam is pulling....Yes, it is a court of law...and yes, everyone should behave like adults, but his daughter was murdered in a most disgusting and dispicable manner...Perhaps Damon is no longer in his right mind, I know I wouldn't be!

296 posted on 07/13/2002 7:58:45 PM PDT by KLT
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To: SouthernFreebird
PS. I don't think that many of us would lose an IQ test to you. I offer myself as our rep if you'd like to try it.

John Jamieson MIT67
297 posted on 07/13/2002 7:59:00 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: cyncooper
YikeS! I can tell it's gettin late..when I forget that.
298 posted on 07/13/2002 8:00:23 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: dread78645
Completely forgot about that devilish Rum & Coca~Cola!!
299 posted on 07/13/2002 8:00:26 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: SouthernFreebird

.so be it, I think i'm gonna grab mu jug of hooch,put on the sheet and find me a nigra.

You should address your own comments. They are unacceptable.


300 posted on 07/13/2002 8:00:49 PM PDT by pyx
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