Doubts raised over Lockerbie expert’s evidence

[evermind]

Doubts raised over Lockerbie expert’s evidence

WILLIAM TINNING, The Herald, August 19, 2005

FRESH doubts were raised last night over the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber.

The evidence of Alan Feraday, a key expert prosecution witness who testified during the trial of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, 53, was called into question after it was claimed three other cases were quashed because his evidence had been discredited.

BBC Newsnight Scotland said it understood papers on one of the cases had been sent to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is reviewing the case of the Libyan bomber, who is serving a life sentence.

<snip> (Mr Feraday appeared in the Lockerbie trial as an expert witness who identified part of a circuit board found at the scene of the crash as a detonator)

After the first case which took place seven years before the Lockerbie trial, was overturned, the lord chief justice said Mr Feraday should not be allowed to present himself as an expert in the field of electronics.

(...continues...)

Also reported at BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4164422.stm

According to the Herald story (above) Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the bombing, and has led the bereaved families' campaign for justice, told the BBC: "I'm personally not satisfied of Mr Megrahi's guilt. I emerged (from the trial) riddled with doubts. This will of course augment them. If one finds that three cases have been overturned, it rather undermines one's confidence."

As I recall from a long ago viewing of a documentary about Lockerbie ("The Maltese Double Cross"?) a crucial piece of forensic evidence was found by an FBI hotshot a few days after he was flown in, over a year into the investigation. It had apparently been lying around in the intervening time, missed by all the others who had fine-toothcombed the area for a year, and dramatically changed the course of the investigation to point to Libya. This was convenient, since at that time Syrian and Iranian support was suddenly needed for the Gulf war, and those countries had been previously high on the list of suspects. I wonder if that piece of evidence was the circuit board in question?

(Edit: correct link, add :tinfoilhat: speculation)

[benburch]

1. Not good.

But at least he is still alive... That poor bastard they assassinated in the London Tube did not even get the benefit of being arrested.

[bobbieinok]

2. remember some time after McVeigh's conviction FBI labs were found

to be highly unreliable??????

[evermind]

3. Yep, I do remember that - it was fairly astonishing. As I recall

they were caught out in large scale fraud about evidence - ie deliberate, rather than simply mistaken.

[wli]

4. doubtless the FBI's fraud is politically and racially biased n/t