In the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, even the most mundane proceedings are rarely routine.

This maxim played out in Placerville on Thursday during a court hearing for accused kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido that lasted all of two minutes but provided fresh drama nevertheless for a story that has captivated the nation.

As Phillip Garrido, a convicted rapist and kidnapper, waited in the empty jury box of an El Dorado County courtroom during the brief session, 57-year-old Katie Callaway sat glaring at him from a few feet away.

Garrido abducted Callaway from Tahoe City on Nov. 22, 1976, and drove to a rental storage unit in Reno, where he raped her through the night until a passing policeman interrupted the assault.

Three seats down from Callaway, in the front row of the courtroom audience section, 63-year-old Ken Slayton sat glowering at Garrido and his wife.

The couple are charged with abducting Dugard in 1991, when she was 11, and hiding her in their Antioch-area backyard for 18 years.

Slayton is the Riverside County man who claims he is Dugard's biological father and who came forward after she was discovered alive.

Neither Callaway, who lives in Las Vegas, nor Slayton had official roles at the hearing, but they wasted few words afterward discussing their contempt for the 58-year-old Garrido.

"It was intensely emotional," Callaway said of making eye contact with Garrido. "I about broke down. It is the same old feeling from 32 years ago. …

"He did, he looked right at me, and I just glared right back."

Slayton, who has never met Dugard but says he wants a role in her life now, said he had a visceral reaction to seeing Garrido.

"I just wanted to rip his face off," Slayton said. "I'm old-school. … He's just a sack of garbage."

Slayton says he believes he impregnated Dugard's mother during a one-month relationship they had after they met at a Lake Havasu, Ariz., campsite in August 1979. They later lost contact, and he claims that over the years he sought to find her.

Now, he said, he wants to be involved in Dugard's life.

"Is it ever too late to be a father?" he asked. "I've raised four kids. I'm a good man. I'm a good father."

Slayton was accompanied Thursday by his Los Angeles-area attorney, Gloria Allred.

Allred has risen to prominence representing high-profile figures such as Scott Peterson's mistress, Amber Frey, and a woman who claimed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger groped her during his acting days, a case which later was dropped.

She did not speak during the brief court hearing but afterward told the 50 or so assembled media members that she will try to get Slayton in contact with Dugard one way or another.

"We know what our options are," Allred said. "At an appropriate point, we are going to do what we have to do."

Dugard was represented in court by McGregor Scott, the former U.S. attorney for Sacramento, who is volunteering his services to the family. He said he intends to be present through the course of the proceedings, and would not comment on Allred's presence.

The hearing, which started 45 minutes late as attorneys met in chambers with the judge to discuss discovery issues, was set back to Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.

Garrido is being held in the El Dorado County jail in lieu of $30 million bail and, even if he could raise that amount, would not be released because Nevada has ordered a hold on him for parole violations stemming from the Callaway rape conviction there. His wife is being held without bail.

They both face life in prison if convicted on kidnapping, sexual assault and other charges. They have pleaded not guilty, and the El Dorado County district attorney has said the case might not come to trial for up to two years.

Authorities say Dugard bore two daughters to Garrido during her long captivity. She and her daughters now live with Dugard's mother and are working to re-enter society.

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