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SOURCE: http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2016/06/still-waiting-for-justice.html
Still Waiting
for Justice
Brenda Van Dam's life changed forever 13
years ago when her seven-year-old daughter, Danielle, went missing from her
bedroom and was later found murdered. Danielle's killer, David
Westerfield, was convicted of kidnapping, murder, and possessing child
pornography and was sentenced to death. Today, over a decade later, he
continues to sit on California's death row. In this
powerful op-ed penned by Van Dam in the San Diego Union-Tribune, she writes,
Now, 13 years later, he still waits for his sentence to be carried out, living at taxpayers' expense, the taxes I pay, at San Quentin's death row. And we who loved Danielle, searched for Danielle, wept for her and sat through every moment of the trial also still wait for that sentence to be carried out. We wait still for justice.Sadly, we are not alone either. While Westerfield has been on death row for 13 years, there are others who have committed terrible crimes against innocent people, including against those who serve and protect us in law enforcement, and against our children, who wait on death row. And their families, like us, wait for justice to be done.Our legal system, which is supposed to work for the people, has evolved into a frustrating patchwork of legal blockades and stalling tactics that has allowed attorneys for death row inmates to abuse the system to drag out and delay death sentences from being carried out for, in some cases, several decades. Some convicted death row inmates even outlive the family members of their victims. The family members die never having seen justice done to those who changed their lives forever.Fortunately, the people of California have an opportunity to change that. Thanks to the hard work of a number of law enforcement professionals, public safety officials and elected officials, the California Death Penalty Reform & Savings initiative was submitted to elections officials throughout the state in order to qualify a reform measure for the November ballot.
The effects of the measure, Van Dam
says, are simple, fair, and common sense: Expanding the pool of available
defense attorneys in an effort to ensure justice for victims and due process
for defendants, requiring that defendants sentenced to death are appointed
counsel immediately rather than several years later, obligating death row inmates
to work and pay restitution, allowing the CDCR to house inmates in less costly
housing, and doing away with death row inmates' special privileges, just to
name a few. Van Dam concludes,
For Danielle, and for all the other victims and their families who have known the pain and loss that we know every day, we encourage everyone to support this measure to restore justice to the death penalty in California. Our families, and those we've loved and lost, deserve at least that.
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Brenda
and Damon Van Dam bravely stood up for justice for their daughter.
The
actions of defense counsel in that case were appalling. More appalling--that
the dishonesty they peddled was not sanctioned by the California bar.
Yes to death penalty: Problems can be fixed
By Brenda Van
Dam | 6 a.m. June 27, 2016
 |
|
Damon
and Brenda Van Dam, release a dove for their daughter, Danielle. — Nelvin C. Cepeda /
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
|
Californians may be faced with two
competing death penalty initiatives in November. A measure to repeal the death
penalty has already qualified for the ballot. A second initiative aims to
preserve and reform the death penalty by speeding up executions. Below the San
Diego mother of a girl whose killer is on death row makes the case for the
second measure. For an opposing view, go here.
Thirteen years ago, on a February
morning, my life changed forever. That was the morning that we went to look for
our 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, in her bedroom but found her missing. She
was nowhere in our home. She wasn’t anywhere in our neighborhood.
We began to search, family, friends and
neighbors, to try to find Danielle. The police were called and the search
became even bigger. Eventually, many thousands of volunteers joined the effort,
spanning large parts of San Diego County, but still no trace of Danielle. Those
long days turned into long weeks, enduring the agonizing and frustrating ordeal
of waiting and not knowing.
Finally, on Feb. 27, Danielle was found.
She had been a victim of murder, but in a very real way, so had everyone else
who loved her. The void and pain of losing your child is devastating in a way
that can’t even be adequately put into words. But she wasn’t truly “lost” … she
was wrested away from us by the violent and deliberate actions of another human
being. All we had was the possibility of seeking justice for Danielle by
prosecuting, convicting and punishing the man who committed the crime, David
Westerfield.
That summer Westerfield was put on
trial, and thanks to the evidence of the case and the strong work on behalf of
the case’s prosecutors, he was convicted of kidnapping, murder and possessing
child pornography. That next January, the judge in the case followed the
recommendation of the jury and sentenced Westerfield to death.
Now, 13 years later, he still waits for
his sentence to be carried out, living at taxpayers’ expense, the taxes I pay,
at San Quentin’s death row. And we who loved Danielle, searched for Danielle,
wept for her and sat through every moment of the trial also still wait for that
sentence to be carried out. We wait still for justice.
Sadly, we are not alone either. While
Westerfield has been on death row for 13 years, there are others who have
committed terrible crimes against innocent people, including against those who
serve and protect us in law enforcement, and against our children, who wait on
death row. And their families, like us, wait for justice to be done.
Our legal system, which is supposed to
work for the people, has evolved into a frustrating patchwork of legal
blockades and stalling tactics that has allowed attorneys for death row inmates
to abuse the system to drag out and delay death sentences from being carried
out for, in some cases, several decades. Some convicted death row inmates even
outlive the family members of their victims. The family members die never
having seen justice done to those who changed their lives forever.
Fortunately, the people of California
have an opportunity to change that. Thanks to the hard work of a number of law
enforcement professionals, public safety officials and elected officials, the
California Death Penalty Reform & Savings initiative was submitted to
elections officials throughout the state in order to qualify a reform measure
for the November ballot.
The effects of that measure, if passed,
would be simple but fair: ensure justice for victims as well as due process for
defendants by expanding the pool of available defense attorneys, requiring that
defendants sentenced to death are appointed appropriate counsel immediately
rather than waiting for years, requiring death row inmates to work and pay
restitution, permitting the state Department of Corrections to house inmates in
less costly housing with fewer special privileges, and more.
This is common sense, and we hope that
when this measure appears before the voters of California, they will not only
maintain their long standing support of the death penalty, but that they will
also back our measure to make the death penalty an effective part of our
criminal justice system.
For Danielle, and for all the other
victims and their families who have known the pain and loss that we know every
day, we encourage everyone to support this measure to restore justice to the
death penalty in California. Our families, and those we’ve loved and lost,
deserve at least that.
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