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CNN Live Today
Father Takes Stand as David Westerfield Trial Underway
Aired June 05, 2002 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In San Diego, the father of Danielle van Dam took the stand today in the trial of the neighbor accused of killing his daughter. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is covering this case and she joins us live.
Thelma, it looks like Damon Van Dam is right at the point you were most interested in.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure does look like that, Carol. In fact, Damon van Dam took the stand about a half-hour ago. He walked jurors through photographs of the interior of his home. And prosecutor Jeff Dusek right now is asking him questions about the night of February 1. That is the last night that Damon van Dam saw his daughter alive.
Now, let's go live now to a picture of the courtroom and listen in.
JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: ...to have photographs labeled A through K. You recognize what we have depicted there, Mr. van Dam?
DAMON VAN DAM, FATHER OF VICTIM: Yes.
DUSEK: Photograph A, what is that showing?
VAN DAM: That's looking at Danielle's door of the left and Dylan's door on the right. B is a view of Danielle's door from the other side, closer to Derek's bedroom.
DUSEK: Hold on a minute, if you would. Going back to photograph A, there appears to be something on the door on the left. Is that correct?
VAN DAM: Yes.
DUSEK: Whose door is that?
VAN DAM: That's Danielle's door.
DUSEK: She has something on the exterior of her door?
VAN DAM: When the police first let us back in the house...
DUSEK: I'm talking about up on top. VAN DAM: Oh, on the top of the door, there are three little cut- outs from her wallpaper. When we wallpapered the top of her room with this border, she liked the border so we cut some out and glued it on her door, so it would be pretty.
DUSEK: Were they there that night?
VAN DAM: Yes.
DUSEK: Are those cutouts visible in photograph B on that exhibit?
VAN DAM: Yes.
DUSEK: Photograph C, what is that showing us?
VAN DAM: That's with her door open looking into her room.
DUSEK: There appears to be a gateway on that doorway. Was that there that night when you put her to bed?
VAN DAM: No.
DUSEK: When did that show up?
VAN DAM: After they fingerprinted, you can see the fingerprint dust in photos B and C also. After the police let us back in the house, I asked the -- I asked that the room not be cleaned. So we put one of the dog gates up and put a "do not enter" sign on the door.
DUSEK: Do you need a moment, or are you able to continue?
VAN DAM: I'll try. I'll try.
DUSEK: Photograph D on that exhibit, where is the cameraman standing in relation to that room?
VAN DAM: That's looking directly in -- directly into the room from the -- with the door open.
DUSEK: And the object that is visible in that photograph is what?
VAN DAM: That's her bed with the canopy over it and her toy box at the bottom.
DUSEK: How long have you folks had that bed?
VAN DAM: I think the bed was about six months old.
DUSEK: And when you're standing at the doorway where this cameraman is, can you see any more of the room from that position?
VAN DAM: Yes, if you lean to the right, you can see into the rest of the room.
DUSEK: To see the rest of the room, you have to walk through that little narrow...
VAN DAM: To see back in through the room, yes.
DUSEK: And, as we go up to the next row of photographs, E, F and G, what are they showing us? Starting with E, if you would.
VAN DAM: E is when you walk in the room, all the way near the window, back of the room, looking back out at the door. And again, this is the closet and this is a mirror door. So this is the closet area here.
DUSEK: In fact, you can even see the cameraman in that mirror, can't you?
VAN DAM: Yes.
DUSEK: Photograph F...
GUTIERREZ: There you see Damon van Dam, very emotional, as he looks at photographs of his daughter's room and of her bed. He says that no one has been allowed to enter her room besides police since she was reported missing.
Earlier Damon van Dam was questioned about family rules in the van Dam family. He said that his children were not allowed to ride their bikes far away from home. He said that they were -- that they even had to ask for permission before crossing the street.
He says his kids were not wild kids. They were under very tight control. And that's important information, because the defense raised the question that perhaps Danielle had wandered into David Westerfield's motor home and that's perhaps why her fingerprints were found inside the motor home, which was parked right across the street from David Westerfield's house.
And the van Dams say that is not true. They didn't allow their children to wander around the neighborhood. Now, Brenda van Dam is also expected to testify a little bit later today. Both parents are expected to be asked very difficult questions when they are cross- examined by defense attorney Steven Feldman -- difficult questions about their personal lives. Carol, back to you.
LIN: All right, thank you very much. Thelma Gutierrez with the latest there on that trial in San Diego.
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