SAN DIEGO -- Two 10News reporters were called to the stand Wednesday in the Danielle van Dam murder case.

Reporters Mark Matthews and Steve Fiorina were both called to the stand Wednesday but for separate reasons.

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

Matthews was called to introduce into evidence a tape of an interview he did with David Westerfield as police were searching the accused child-killer's home.

"On the 4th of February (Westerfield) was standing outside of his house as police were asking if they could bring dogs into his house to search his place," Matthews said. "He told me it was a routine search ... And we did a quick interview with him, probably 10 minutes at the most."

Because the tape aired on 10News, it is considered a published report. Entering the interview into evidence does not interfere with Matthews' ability to do his job, according to media attorney Guylyn Cummings.

However, that is not the case with Fiorina and three other reporters from other local television news stations.

The defense is eager to have Fiorina testify on what he witnessed during the month that members of the media were basically camped out in the van Dams' Sabre Springs neighborhood.

Westerfield's lawyers are specifically interested to know whether police blocked his driveway when they first made contact with him as part of the search for Danielle.

Offering up that information, which is not part of a published report, would infringe upon Fiorina's rights as a reporter, protected by the Shield Law, according to Cummings.

Video

10News Reporters Called To The Stand

"Reporters are not supposed to be made arms of private parties, or litigants, or even the people themselves, and pulled out of their daily jobs to testify in courtrooms," Cummings said.

Several Issues To Be Discussed Behind Closed Doors

Meanwhile, Superior Court Judge William Mudd said he planned to close the rest of Wednesday's hearing on pretrial motions in the case, 10News reported.

The closed hearing included a request by Westerfield's attorneys to have the alleged pornography seized from the defendant's computer be included in a motion to suppress evidence that might be inadmissible at trial.

Prosecutors want to show jurors the materials to prove that Westerfield's motive was to sexually molest Danielle after he allegedly took her from her bedroom on the night of Feb. 1.

The victim's decomposed body was found by volunteers off a road near Dehesa on Feb. 27.

Westerfield faces the death penalty if convicted at trial, which is scheduled to begin May 17. His attorneys want the child pornography charge tried separately from the murder and kidnapping charges. But prosecutors contend that while the charges are not in the same class, all three crimes are certainly "connected together in their commission."

Video

Who Saw What, And When?

"The defendant kidnapped a 7-year-old girl from her own bed," prosecutor Jeff Dusek wrote in a response to a defense motion. "He killed her, then dumped her nude body in an isolated location. The conclusion is inescapable ... she was sexually molested prior to her murder."

Mudd said he will consider in closed session whether to suppress statements that Westerfield made to police and that attorneys Steven Feldman and Robert Boyce claim were obtained illegally.

Also in closed session, Mudd is expected to listen to arguments on a prosecution motion to limit the possible introduction of evidence into the alleged "swinging lifestyles" of Damon and Brenda van Dam.

Brenda van Dam testified at Westerfield's preliminary hearing earlier this year that she took a couple of puffs on a marijuana cigarette while with her girlfriends in her garage before going to Dad's restaurant the night of Feb. 1, and while at Dad's later that night.

Dusek has said that questioning from the defense on the issue during that hearing was intended to "besmirch" the character of the slain child's parents. But he agreed that their drug and alcohol use during the time around Danielle's disappearance was "fair game."

Feldman argued that the prior use of such substances affected the van Dams' ability to "perceive, recollect and remember."

Tuesday, Dusek told the judge that two missing teeth indicate that Danielle van Dam suffocated when her abductor jammed something into her mouth.

Mudd told Dusek that he could show the jury all but one of seven photographs of the scene in Dehesa where the victim's body was discovered, and that he could use 11 photos taken during the victim's autopsy.

Dusek argued in his pretrial motion to introduce the photos at trial that the child was found on her back, completely nude, with several teeth missing.

Two of the missing teeth couldn't be located, lending credence to the theory that the victim was killed at another location after having something stuffed into her mouth, the prosecutor said.

Doctors weren't able to determine the cause of death or if Danielle van Dam was sexually assaulted because her body was badly decomposed, Dusek said.

He said the girl's body was "easy for a grown man to carry."

Damon and Brenda van Dam discovered their daughter missing from her bed the morning of Feb. 2. Westerfield, who came under suspicion that day, was arrested Feb. 22.

Mudd Tuesday refused to make a firm decision on whether the jury in the upcoming trial will be sequestered, saying it "adds one more problem to finding a community jury to try this case."

He said he would have a hard time welcoming the jury pool by laying down ground rules, then adding, "Oh, by the way, you're going to spend the next three months at county expense."

He said he may take up the issue at a later time.

Feldman argued that the defense has not received all the notes from police officers working on the case, including a briefing the morning that Westerfield came under investigation, and information about the dogs that searched the neighborhood. Feldman said that dogs used in the search made false hits during the hunt.

Dusek took offense at defense suggestions that prosecutors haven't been helpful with attempts to gain access to the van Dam home. He said authorities can't force the van Dams to let members of the Westerfield defense team into their residence.

"The (van Dams) don't want that 'evil' in their home again," Dusek said, in reference to the defendant.

Mudd said he would allow the jury to make a visit to Westerfield's motorhome if photographs entered into evidence don't create a clear picture for them.

Mudd said he may open the hearings Thursday.