Van Dam Case Witness Challenges Findings Of Defense 'Bug Expert': But...His Testimony Don't Add Up..

Union Tribune ^ | July 31, 2002 | Jeff Dillion

[UCANSEE2]

Nobody is saying the statement and the statement alone are proof of murder, but it is foolish to just cast it aside without giving it some thought.

I agree. Did the person say that they were giving it thought? No. The person said DW LIED.

[cyncooper]

Exactly, he could have stated he had planned it.

The pro-DW posters have been saying it was the prosecution which tried to paint the trip as spur of the moment when it looks like it was DW's own story to police.

[nycgal]

I agree with your interpretation of the "spur of the moment". In my limited reading of the transcript, I've seen Redden leading and attempting to put words into DW's mouth while putting on a "dumb" act and saying how he has problems remembering stuff.

[cyncooper]

He went to where his 'sand buddies' usually go and they weren't there.

Actually, that is not accurate either.

Neil testified which washes they usually went to and DW went farther out than that and ended up getting stuck.

[the Deejay]

"BRENDA/DAMON had already put them on DW"


This has *always* been key to me.

It has *always* been plain to me that DW was trying to help the police locate Danielle. And so many people have twisted every single word he's said to police & media into something it isn't, and that made me very angry from the git-go.

[Dave_in_Upland]

Jennifer Shen, the witness, stated on direct exam (I posted it much earlier on this thread) that the fiber came to be there at time of death/placement at Dehesa.

Ms. Shen also stated on cross examination that such a statement was nothing more than a guess.

My experience with hair and necklaces and little girls is that it could have been there for a very long time. The fiber was tangled into a ball with hair. That entanglemane does not happen suddenly. It takes quite a while for the random movements of the hair and the fiber and the necklace and the skin to truely tangle something. That is one of the reasons that I have totally dismissed most of the fiber evidence (besides the fact that no one has any idea where it could have came from except DVD's alma mater).

[cyncooper]

can't Feldman bring in his own fiber expert on sur-rebuttal?

He can, but he won't. He knows the source is not available and the testimony yesterday debunked the LE clothing theory.

Any serious testing rebuttal would have been done already.

[UCANSEE2]

There is no testimony to Danielle having a bath that evening and her hair did not look groomed for her passport picture, so this witness cannot say that the fiber was there at the time of death. I don't see Feldman conceding anything, he was just shut down by the judge.

From the description given in the testimony, the fiber was wrapped around hair that was tied tightly and wrapped around the necklace. (I may be misqouting, this is what I remember) Sounds like the fiber could have been there ever since she started wearing the choker. It could have gotten their when she was abducted/died. It could have gotten there 1 week or 2 weeks, or 6 weeks, or 120 weeks before that.

All of these are just as possible.

Remember, the hair with the fiber was "STUCK" in the choker, and Danielle NEVER took the CHOKER off for TWO YEARS.

[John Jamieson]

I think, the surrebuttal can only adress issues raised during rebuttal, so the subject would probably be limited to the clothes that were at issue.

I'm afraid Feldman is saving too much for closing, I hope he covers everything. Many little points can still be made. Worse thing he can do is get overconfident.

I'm so tired of hearing about the battle of the bug experts and how confusing it is to people (and therefore it's a wash!) on TV. IT IS VERY SIMPLE, ALL THREE BUGSPERTS SAID DW COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT!

[pinz-n-needlez]

Thanks, I had forgotten the 'reason' they put forward.

BTW, I agree with your opinion of Damon wholeheartedly.

What that poor little girl must have seen and experienced way before that weekend. :-/

[the Deejay]

"Danielle NEVER took the CHOKER off for TWO YEARS."


Which surprises me they didn't find an abundance of fibers and goobers throughout that thing.

I cannot imagine allowing a child to wear something like that 24/7. Especially to bed. That's not a safe thing to do & I don't care how "stretchy" it is. It's just not safe.

[cyncooper]

...her hair did not look groomed for her passport picture,...

First, her hair looks smooth to me--not a snarl. This sounds like some wad of hair.

Feldman's only hypothetical was regarding a scenario where the fiber gets in Danielle's hair and then she doesn't move. Sounds like a concession to me.

Even granting your "not groomed" statement, she certainly moved since the cookie visit! She would also sleep and wasn't she in a dressing room at Mervyn's? The act of changing clothes---never mind that between the cookie visit and bedtime and school she would have changed clothes numerous times--would dislodge a fiber.

[the Deejay]

"ALL THREE BUGSPERTS SAID DW COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT!"


And ALL THREE have no dog in this fight or ax to grind. All the jury has to do is take the BUGSPERTS word(s) for it.

[UCANSEE2]

Actually, that is not accurate either.

So, he could have gone to where his 'buddies' usually were, find out they aren't there, gone farther out, find they aren't there, get stuck, get towed out, get hot/tired/fed up and head somewhere else because he had had it with the sand area.

Now did NEAL testify that DW didn't go to where his buddies usually went FIRST, then headed farther out?

Or did he just say the area where DW got stuck was farther out?

[cyncooper]

I've seen Redden leading

How is Redden asking if the trip was spur of the moment or planned leading DW to say one or the other????

[nycgal]

. It could have gotten there 1 week or 2 weeks, or 6 weeks, or 120 weeks before that.

I would agree with that only if the hair was not also attached to her head. If that was the case, I would have to think that the hair got entangled during her abduction and her possibly fighting off the perpetrator. Otherwise, as you stated, that hair could have been there as long as she wore the necklace. I remember finding bits of my hair entangled in a gold chain I wore and rarely took off.

[the Deejay]

That kid's hair was FILTHY!

I know clean, well groomed hair when I see it.

[UCANSEE2]

It is more than likely that if the fiber was tangled in hair that was tied in a knot/tangled up on the choker, That IT had been there FOR A WHILE before her ABDUCTION.

[John Jamieson]

"no dog in this fight or ax to grind"
In fact two of the three were paid for by the prosecution's money and hired by the prosecution.

If I was Dusek (actually, I look more like Goofess), I'd be on a real bender today!

[nycgal]

wasn't she in a dressing room at Mervyn's?

...and how many orange outfits did she try on at Mervyn's? How about a fiber or two getting entangled in her necklace as she was pulling tops on and off?