SAN DIEGO -- A state appeals court ruled that affidavits police prepared in support of search warrants in the case of accused child killer David Westerfield should remain sealed.

DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage DISCUSSION Share your feelings, thoughts E-mail: daniellevandam @yahoo.com Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

A three-justice panel from the 4th District Court of Appeal Tuesday denied a motion brought by the San Diego Union-Tribune to make the documents public.

Westerfield, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of abducting and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of Sabre Springs.

Prosecutors told Superior Court Judge William Mudd last Thursday that they would seek capital punishment if a jury finds Westerfield guilty of murder and murder during a kidnapping.

The judge is set to hear pretrial motions Monday. Trial is scheduled for May 17.

Mudd also denied a motion submitted last week in which defense lawyers sought to gain access to photos lifted from Westerfield's home computer, allegedly showing naked girls, some engaged in sexual acts with humans and animals.

The judge told prosecutors to allow Westerfield's attorneys to go over the "questionable" material with an expert in private.

Mudd ordered both sides to return to court Wednesday to discuss with him which documents should be withheld from public scrutiny.

The judge also ordered sealed the district attorney's motion to seek the death penalty and a supporting statement.

Brenda and Damon van Dam's daughter was the subject of a wide-ranging search that lasted nearly a month before the second-grader's body was found among some trash along a rural Dehesa road on Feb. 27.

Westerfield, who lived two doors away from the van Dams in Sabre Springs, was questioned almost immediately in connection with the girl's disappearance, which was reported the morning of Feb. 2. Police kept Westerfield under surveillance and arrested him Feb. 22 on suspicion of kidnapping.

He was charged with Danielle's murder a day before the body was found.