Posted by APFN on September 27, 2000 at 18:11:51:
New Evidence in Waco Case
Wednesday, 27-Sep-00 03:16:25
24.14.28.77 writes:
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/9/26/190545
New Evidence in Waco Case
Stephan Archer
Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000
A week ago today, a U.S. District Court upheld the government's
behavior at Waco in the Branch Davidians' $675 million
wrongful-death lawsuit, but a new motion for reconsideration
loaded with "smoking gun" evidence could influence appeals and
keep the saga alive. Michael McNulty, a reporter and documentary
film producer who has brought to light serious questions
regarding the Waco siege, told NewsMax.com there was little
chance Judge Walter Smith Jr. would seriously consider the
evidence in the motion. The point of the motion is to make sure
all the evidence is in the record before the case moves to the
appellate level, he said.
"It ain't over 'til it's over," McNulty said in referring to
evidence he believes indicts the FBI.
According to McNulty, the newly presented evidence revolves
around two main claims of the government. In its first claim, the
government argued the flashes on the Forward-Looking Infrared
(FLIR) tapes could not be gunfire because they lasted longer than
8 milliseconds on the tape. Its second claim points to the fact
that people can't be seen in the tapes firing a weapon.
A Sept. 6 FLIR imagery field test conducted by experts for the
Branch Davidians, however, indicates the government's FLIR
conclusions were shaky at best and deceptive.
According to the independent test at Fort Collins, Colo., gunfire
flashes can occur on the tapes without any visible presence of
people. Gunfire flashes can also last more than four times as
long on the tapes as the government claims.
These findings aren't short of extraordinary in light of the fact
that similar tests conducted by the government at Fort Hood,
Texas, didn't uncover any of this information.
A reason for this discrepancy could be that the temperature
during the test at Fort Hood was about 20 degrees cooler than the
temperature during the test at Fort Collins, which more
accurately assimilated the temperature in Waco during the 1993
siege.
Another reason for the different test results could be that Fort
Hood used a different video format for recording while Fort
Collins used the same format as that used at Waco.
In the motion to reconsider are a number of affidavits including
that of Ferdinand H. Zegel, a physicist with more than 30 years'
experience in thermal imaging and related fields. He is a project
manager and staff engineer for Radian Inc., involved in missile
target thermal signature recognition.
He observed the Fort Collins test and concluded that people
moving outside the Davidian compound would have been difficult to
see on the FLIR tapes.
"The Fort Collins test demonstrates that under ambient conditions
approximating those of April 19, 1993, individuals are not
readily visible in FLIR imagery," Zegel said in his affidavit.
Zegel further explained in his affidavit that a human image from
the Fort Collins test should be more discernible than a similar
human image recorded at Waco or Fort Hood because the images were
larger. The reason for this is the camera was closer to the
"action" at Fort Collins. The camera was also more stable and at
a better angle making any pictures just that much more clear.
Yet, human images still ranged from invisible to barely visible.
McNulty added that after the test at Fort Collins, it was also
discovered that standard military issue uniforms, such as the
ones worn by FBI agents during the Waco siege, are chemically
treated to reduce or eliminate thermal image.
Commenting on government claims that gunfire flashes on FLIR
tapes would last no longer than about 8 milliseconds, Zegel said
in his affidavit, "The Ft. Collins test demonstrates that bursts
of gunshots generate much longer duration flash signatures than
values claimed possible by defense experts."
Experts for the Davidians contend that these findings show that
the government's arguments need to be re-evaluated.
Carroll Lucas, who has experience interpreting aerial and
satellite photography, had previously spent 25 years with the CIA
in what was then known as its National Photographic
Interpretation Center. In a written affidavit that was submitted
along with the motion to reconsider, he said individuals could be
seen near locations of the flashes on the FLIR tapes.
"Based on the digital image analysis, I conclude that individuals
are visible in the courtyard near locations and at times
associated with FLIR imagery flashes," Lucas said.
With this whirlwind of information coming in at a time in which
the end of the Waco case seemed to be at hand, will Judge Smith
reconsider the case?
"I don't think (he) will," said McNulty. "I think the judge has
got his mind made up, and he doesn't want to be disturbed by the
facts."
APFN