A 2004 movie, Crash, is described on
its webpage; "Several characters of different racial backgrounds collide in one
incident. The different stereotypes society has created for those backgrounds
affect their judgment, beliefs and actions. This in turn causes problems for
each of them." Another 2004 Crash occurred in Romania when two countries
witnessed a car crash that caused not only the life of a person, but the loss of
credibility for both countries.
In the Romanian case, Staff Sgt. Christopher
R. Van Goethem, a US Marine assigned to the US Embassy in Bucharest, was accused
of causing a car accident that killed a passenger in another car, a taxi, on Dec
4, 2004. Because he was protected by diplomatic immunity as a member of the US
mission abroad, he was not required to face any criminal charges in Romania for
that accident. The US Ambassador at that time Jack Dyer Crouch, decided to send
him immediately out of this country. However, the US Embassy with the permission
of the US government could have waived VanGoethem's immunity and allowed him to
be tried in Romania. The Romanian Prime Minister at the time, Adrian Nastase,
asked President Bush to waive his immunity, but Bush refused. Because Van
Geothem was a military man, he was tried in a US military court.
The legal
concept Diplomatic Immunity, "is a principle of international law by which
certain foreign government officials are not subject to the jurisdiction of
local courts and other authorities. Immunity protects the channels
of diplomatic communication
by exempting diplomats
from local jurisdiction
so that they
can perform their
duties with freedom,
independence, and security"
(www.ediplomat.com/nd/diplomatic_immunity.htm)
However, it should be noted that diplomatic immunity is not applied
evenly to all who serve a mission abroad. "Members of an embassy's service staff
and consular employees are immune only for acts performed as part of their
official duties." It must be noted that "eDiplomat" is not an official US
government website. It is, "an independent, non-profit organization,
unaffiliated with any government." According to the information posted by
this NGO, VanGoethem would seem to fall in the last category; staff service not
acting on official business when involved in the car accident and therefore not
eligible for diplomatic immunity. But he was assigned as military and that might
qualify him.
Click to the webpage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_immunity In 1997 the Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of
Georgian assigned to the Embassy in Washington, DC was involved in a car
accident that injured four people and killed another. The US government asked
for his immunity to be waived and the Georgian government agreed. The diplomat
was tried in a US court and found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced 7- 21
years in a US jail. There have been other cases involving diplomatic staff who
were involved in crimes in the USA but whose diplomatic immunity was not waived
and they returned home, in a few cases to face no sanctions from their own
country. Host countries can only refuse to allow a diplomat from another country
to remain or return, designating him persona non grata; not welcome.
With
this information in mind, let us return to the specific case before us. Please
refer now to the official magazine of the US military, Stars and Stripes for the
19 articles relating to VanGoethem. Click to http://www.estripes.com/search.asp?searchnow=Y
No official transcript of the trial is provided. However, you
can read that there was conflicting evidence provided by Special Agent Lofstrom
of the Naples, Italy branch of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS)
and Virginia State Trooper and crash expert Dowsett, about the fault of the
signs at the intersection where the accident occurred and the resulting impact.
Both investigators however found that VanGoethem was driving under the speed
limit for his street while the taxi driver was driving above the limit for his
street.
No one in any of the testimony reported in this official military
magazine stated that VanGoethem was not present at the accident nor that the
person who died at that intersection had not been in the taxi hit by
VanGoethem's car. The official issue before the final decision was who was
guilty of negligent homicide and to what extent. There were additional related
charges about Van Goethem's lying under oath and possible adultery. His past
negligent driving record in Bucharest was also included in the court record but
later not allowed to be considered by the jury. Military lawyers represented the
prosecution and defense.
According to the Romanian newspaper, Adevarul, the
driver of the taxi involved in the accident, Marian Chiru, stated that he was
offered a RT airplane ticket to the trial and free hotel and meals as well as
$40 USD a day spending money which he refused. The Romanian policemen and
firemen at the accident were also not present as witnesses for the prosecution.
The adultery charges were dropped because the witness gave four different
statements under oath and lost credibility. According to Journal National, while
the death of the person in the taxi was identified, the location of his death
was not stated and thus the prosecution did not prove that anyone died as a
result of that car crash.
The final decision of the military court was that
because the prosecution did not prove that VanGeothem was present at the scene
of the accident, as there were no witnesses nor other proof submitted, he was
innocent.
I join all those shocked at the verdict of innocence for
VanGoethem. I am shocked that witnesses were not required to be at this trial
and that no Romanian police reports, if any existed, or Romanian TV film
footage, were entered into evidence. I am shocked that no one in the Romanian
government protested about this before the decision. Tape or video recorded
testimony verified by official witnesses is eligible as evidence in a US court
trial under certain circumstances, an international accident should qualify.
What was the responsibility of Romania to make sure that all official evidence
was entered into the court's review of this case?
I am shocked that the US
military prosecution seemed to be incredibly ill prepared to the point of
incompetency to present a fair case against the American soldier who was filmed
on TV at the scene of the accident and who never denied that he was there. Is
there going to be any investigation of the prosecution lawyers for not
presenting all the evidence required for a proper legal case? Justice was
certainly not served by them.
I am also shocked that Romanians assumed the
worst of the American driver. Who admitted that two cars were involved in
the car accident and that blame could be assigned to both drivers? What is the
driving record of the reluctant witness, Mr. Chiru? Was he afraid to testify
under oath? Was he tested for alcohol? Were there any witnesses at the
intersection at the moment of the crash who saw what happened? Where is
that testimony?
I am unfortunately, not surprised that there are those who
would portray this decision in nationalistic terms. That the US has acted under
this presidency too often without regard to international laws and courts is
true. That image of an all powerful nation doing as it pleases does not generate
respect. But Romania needs to look to its own judicial system which seems
to favor delay as a tactic over results. Were there demonstrations in front of
the Senate when the wife of Senator Adrian Paunescu was merely given a suspended
three year jail sentence for the death of three family members? Were there
petitions demanding justice then? A bully mentality and a persecution complex do
not reflect well on either country. The lack of preparation by the US military
prosecutors added fuel to this fire that unchecked will consume both
countries.
Copyright © 2004-2006 Bucharest Daily News
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