Posted on 06/24/2002 11:39:33 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
A federal appeals court has ruled that six of 10 Polaroid photographs taken of White House counsel Vince Foster's body as he lay dead from an apparent gunshot wound in Fort Marcy Park nearly a decade ago remain secret.
The ruling, handed down June 4 by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, partially affirmed an earlier U.S. district court ruling Jan. 11, 2001. The lower court ordered five of the photos to be released to attorney Allan J. Favish, who filed a Freedom of Information Act request more than two years ago with the Office of Independent Counsel in Washington, D.C., to get all 10 photos released to the public.
However, citing survivors' privacy rights, both courts refused to allow the other photos – which more clearly show Foster's face – to be released to the public. The appeals court ordered that the fifth photo – described as "VF's body looking down from top of berm" – also be withheld.
The photos remain in the government's custody.
Barring government appeals, the four photos to be released are described as: "VF's body – focusing on rt. side shoulder/arm"; "right hand showing gun and thumb in guard"; "VF's body focusing on right side and arm"; and "VF's body – focus on top of head through heavy foliage."
Photos six through 10 that the courts have ordered withheld are described as: "VF's body – focusing on face"; "VF's body taken from below feet"; "VF's body – focus on head and upper torso"; "VF's face – looking directly down into face"; "VF's face – taken from right side focusing on face and blood on shoulder."
Favish says that last photo is particularly at issue, because an earlier published report claimed the existence of a neck wound on Foster's body that contradicts an FBI memo written two days after the deputy counsel's death.
Following an autopsy of Foster's body by the Fairfax County (Va.) Medical Examiner's office, "preliminary results include the finding that a .38-caliber revolver, constructed from two different weapons, was fired [into] the victim's mouth with no exit wound," the FBI report said.
The California attorney filed his original request for the photographs in a bid to learn whether Foster, who was found dead July 20, 1993 – just six months after President Bill Clinton took office – was truly a victim of suicide, as the government contends, or whether he was murdered and dumped in the park, as some witnesses and independent researchers believe.
"As you know, there is a controversy over whether one of these photos shows that neck wound which, officially, does not exist," said Favish.
On July 12, 2000, the Ninth Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling regarding the release of the Polaroids, said that "Favish, in fact, tenders evidence and argument which, if believed, would justify his doubts" about the official government conclusion that Foster committed suicide in the park.
It was unclear whether Favish was planning another appeal.
I wonder if the other side will appeal the release of the four photos, and if not, does Favish think they will show anything important, and also when will they be released?
PS: there are homes within about a hundred-meters of the body site... yet nobody anywhere heard a gunshot. Another creepy American political mystery, to be solved just like Chandra Levy, Hoffa or JFK hmm?
. Under an agreement reached with Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, a court-appointed mediator will appoint the expert to view the photographs along with representatives of the Orlando Sentinel. The Orlando Sentinel will then be allowed to ask the expert three questions about the autopsy
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Seems as the court is applying a different standard to the two cases. Wonder why?
The Judge's son Neil had discovered something very unsettling among his stepmother's private papers and was threatening to go public with it just prior to the beginning of the Democratic National Convention.
He was alleged to have been talking to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post about a blockbuster story
He died on August 25, 1996 witnesses said they saw Neil Moody sitting in his car arguing with another person just prior to the car suddenly accelerating, speeding off out of control and hitting a brick wall... Press Here for;
Lisa Foster Interview with New Yorker magazine
Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW
March 29, 1998 Christopher Ruddy
WASHINGTON - Who did Vincent Foster and Webster Hubbell meet the weekend before Foster's death in July 1993? Nathan Landow. Landow, a real estate mogul, has been a Democratic party power broker for decades. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter nominated him for an ambassadorship to the Netherlands, but Landow withdrew in the wake of press reports linking him to organized crime figures…
(Landow is also caught up in other Clinton scandals.)
The next morning, she remembers Vince sprawled on a park lawn overlooking Chesapeake Bay, negotiating their departure date. They now agreed that they would not stay for the full Clinton term, but she hoped to remain in Washington at least until Brugh graduated from Sidwell, the following year. Vince wanted to leave immediately. Finally, they decided that Vince would stay in his job until Christmas, then find other work in Washington until Brugh graduated.
Vince's spirits seemed to lift after that, and they even talked about living on a houseboat until they returned to Little Rock. Back at the inn, they were awakened from a nap by a call from Webster Hubbell's wife, Suzy who was staying with her husband at the home of mutual friends nearby. Hubbell invited the Fosters to join them for dinner that night and for the day on Sunday, and they did.
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