New motion in Foster case

New motion in Foster case
Wednesday, 21-Feb-01 12:13:33

24.14.28.77 writes:

New motion in Foster case
Attorney pushes for release of death
photos taken at Fort Marcy Park

By Jon Dougherty
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com

A Los Angeles-based attorney has filed a
motion in federal court seeking an order to
release 10 "pristine" photographs of former
Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster
that were taken as he lay dead in Fort Marcy
Park in northern Virginia on July 20, 1993.

The motion, filed by attorney Allan J. Favish,
comes on the heels of a separate motion filed
earlier this month by Foster's widow, Lisa
Foster Moody, and his sister, Sheila Foster
Anthony.

That motion was filed in an effort to block U.S.
District Court Judge William D. Keller's earlier
ruling ordering five of the photos to be released
by the Office of Independent Counsel.

A hearing on both motions is scheduled for
March 5.

Keller, who issued his ruling Jan. 13, wrote that
"the decision to release" the photos was
"determined by balancing the respective interest
of the public and survivors."

In this case, the appellate court appears to have
defined the zone of privacy protection as those
photographs that are "graphic, explicit and
extremely upsetting," and, therefore, not
releasable.

However, the Foster family motion, which seeks
to "alter or amend" Keller's ruling, alleges that
"the court erred in its balancing of the
compelling privacy interests" of Vincent Foster's
surviving family members "against the
purported public benefit in disclosure of the
photographs."

Attorneys for the family argued that previous
court rulings extended a "zone of privacy [to] a
spouse, a parent, a child, a brother or sister
[who] seek to 'preserve the memory of the
deceased loved one.'"

The filing said Keller "erred by not determining
what public benefit would be served by the
release of these photos," as an earlier court of
appeals ruling required.

Although he expressed sympathy for the Foster
family, in his new motion Favish asserted that
family members "have been denied the closure
that any family would desire" and, hence, the
photos should be released to the public "to
make its own conclusions."

"The blame for this lack of closure does not lie
with those who are seeking the truth in order to
keep their government honest," Favish wrote. "It
lies with government officials who have
produced reports [about Mr. Foster's death] that
have no credibility."

Favish decried OIC characterizations that his
Freedom of Information lawsuit was based
solely on "conspiracy theories" and "baseless
speculation." Rather, he said, "I rely upon
undisputed facts from the government's own
underlying investigative record" which
"establish beyond question that [reports issued
by former Independent Counsels Robert Fiske
and Kenneth Starr] are not worthy of the public's
trust."

Citing excerpts from a previous 9th U.S. Circuit
Court ruling on the case last year, Favish said
two judges on the panel said he "tenders
evidence which, if believed, would justify his
doubts" about the federal government's
conclusion that Foster's death was a suicide.

"Although the OIC likes to use the phrase
'conspiracy theory' as a pejorative," Favish
wrote, "whether the reports are untrustworthy
because of a conspiracy to hide the truth or
because of a mass coincidence of innocent errors
by separate individuals, the fact remains that
the reports are untrustworthy and the public is
entitled to a trustworthy investigation."

In seeking to prevent any photos from being
released, the Foster family argued that it was
unnecessary because "five separate
investigations -- by the Park Police, two
independent counsels, and congressional
committees of both houses of Congress" had
already examined the former White House
counsel's death.

However, Favish said the congressional
committees were limited in scope and both said
the purpose of the inquiries was not to
determine whether Foster was killed or
committed suicide, but rather to focus instead
on the handling of the ensuing investigation by
authorities.

Ten of the unreleased photos pictured all, or
part of, Foster's body while it was still lying in
Fort Marcy Park.

Last September, WND reported that for the first
time, Foster's White House computer had
finally been obtained by the Office of
Independent Counsel under Robert Ray, after
both Fiske and Starr failed to secure it for
examination.

"As a result, Foster's hard drive became a hot
potato inside the White House, bouncing from
one official's hands to another's -- breaking the
chain of custody over and over, before finally,
last week, ending up where it has belonged all
along -- in the hands of investigators," WND
reported.

Foster handled the first couple's Whitewater tax
returns just before he died, calling it a "can of
worms." Top aides for both Clintons frantically
searched his office the night he died. One took
an armful of file folders to the first lady's office,
a uniformed Secret Service agent has testified.

One of the computer files reveals that Foster
and his wife planned to go out on a date the
same night he was found dead in Fort Marcy
Park, according to a White House whistleblower
who has read the file and recently turned over
evidence to Ray under subpoena.

Related stories:

Foster kin seek to block death photos

Court orders release of Foster photos

Foster planned date with wife

New angle on Foster death

No 'independent' probe of Foster death

Jon E. Dougherty is a staff writer for WorldNetDaily.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21793