It's fascinating reading, the last two days of the inquest into Diana's death has been taken up from the Judge's summation. He covers all aspects of the inquest, who they talked to, witnesses, evidence presented, theories and so on....interesting stuff.
I'm not surprised to read the directions that he has given the jury, particularly the following:
"it is not open to you to find that Diana and Dodi were
unlawfully killed in a staged accident. Why, you may
ask, is this so? Surely that is just what we, the jury,
are here to decide. The answer is this: the law is
clear -- and no one has argued otherwise -- that unless
there is sufficient evidence upon which a jury can
conclude that they are sure a deceased was unlawfully
killed in a particular way, the Coroner is required to
take the burden on his own shoulders and withdraw that
verdict from the jury."
Uh-huh...in that paragraph, Lord Justice Baker has removed the possiblility of a staged accident or conspiracy leading to the deaths of Dodi and Diana. He went on to say that in regard to the allegation or unlawful killing,
"in this case sufficient evidence simply does not exist.
Speculation, surmise and belief are one thing; evidence is another."
Justice Baker did go on to say that "there is some evidence, albeit limited and of doubtful quality, that the crash was staged," However, he implied that it was very weak evidence at best.
The Justice also explained that the hearing or inquest was
not an adversarial
proceeding, as are criminal or civil litigations, but an inquiry to establish how two people came by their deaths and to confirm or allay rumour or suspicion about their deaths.
From what I understand, the jury now has five choices.....
The five possible verdicts are:
(1) Unlawful killing (grossly negligent driving of
the following vehicles);
(2) Unlawful killing (grossly negligent driving of
the Mercedes);
(3) Unlawful killing (grossly negligent driving of
the following vehicles and of the Mercedes);
(4) Accidental death;
(5) Open verdict. (if the believe the accident was staged)
Having read most, although not all of Justice Baker's summation, and a good deal of the transcripts, I am no farther ahead than I was before I started. I cannot help but feel that the Justice seems to be leaning toward the idea that there is no evidence to support a conspiracy.
Yet, even as I read some of his summation, there are questions that come to mind, many unanswered, or as far as I am concerned answered with as much speculation as the suggestion that the deaths of Dodi al Fayed and Diana were staged.
The problem lies in the testimony of witnesses and people associated with the situation, it is all over the board itself. There are also some ends left unanswered, the white Fiat comes to mind as one of the most important. The driver or vehicle have not been found. The actions of the couple at the Ritz Hotel prior to leaving in the car that eventually ended their lives....the sudden decision of Henri Paul to drive, the whole business about the purchase of a ring, engagement or otherwise.
I am laying my money on the jury coming back with an 'open verdict' not so much that they believe in a conspiracy, or staged accident, but that they won't be able to conclusively say it wasn't. An open verdict, from what I understand, says that it wasn't clearly an accident or negligence on someone's behalf. Other than just deciding that it must have just been a freak accident and forgetting about it, I cannot imagine another decision.
Of course this interests me because of the idea of a conspiracy, a cover-up or the work of a secret organization like MI6 or any of the other "MI's" that I don't know about...it's also intriguing because to orchestrate anything of this nature, would require complicity and secrecy from a substantial number of individuals....in other words, a secret organization....
You can read the transcripts yourself, Here!!
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