Lahr Vs. NTSB
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 JOHN H. CLARKE [Pro Hac Vice] 2 Telephone: (202) 332-3030 JOHN F. DUNNE, JR. [SBN 32854] 3 1601 Cloverfield Boulevard 4 Second Floor, South Tower 5 Santa Monica, California 90404-4084 Telephone: (310) 393-9351 6 Facsimile: (310) 230-4066 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 H. RAY LAHR, ) Case No. 02-8708 AHM (RZx) ) 13 Plaintiff, ) PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO 14 ) DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR v. ) SUMMARY JUDGMENT: 15 ) MEMORANDUM OF POINTS 16 NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION ) AND AUTHORITIES AND 17 SAFETY BOARD, et al. ) DECLARATION OF JOHN H. ) CLARKE AND LODGED 18 Defendants. ) VIDEOTAPES IN SUPPORT 19 ) THEREOF 20 Date: December 15, 2003 21 Time: 10:00. a.m. 22 Place: Courtroom 14, 312 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 23 Judge: Honorable A. Howard Matz 24 (1) MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 25 26 (2) DECLARATION OF JOHN H. CLARKE A. Affidavit of Brett Hoffstadt 27 B. Affidavit of Darryl Hambley 28 C. Affidavits of Rear Admiral Clarence A. Hill, Jr., USN (Ret) D. Affidavit of Robert Donaldson -1- 1 E. Affidavits of Thomas Stalcup, Ph.D. 2 F. Affidavit of David Neal G. Affidavit of Marge Krugar 3 H. Affidavit of Gregory A. Harrison, Ph.D., P.E. 4 I. Affidavit of Michael Hull, Ph.D. 5 J. Affidavit of James A. Holtsclaw K. Affidavits of James D. Sanders 6 L. Affidavit of James Speer 7 M. Affidavit of Captain Richard Russell N. Affidavit of Vincent Fuschetti 8 O. Affidavit of Major Fred Meyer (Ret.) 9 P. Affidavits of Dwight Brumley Q. Affidavit of Dr. Vernon Gross 10 R. Affidavit of Mike Wire 11 S. Affidavit of Paul Angelides 12 T. Captain David McClaine U. Affidavit of Lisa Perry 13 V. Affidavit of Colonel Lawrence Pence USAF (Ret) 14 W. Affidavit of Michael F. Rivero X. Affidavit of Captain H. Ray Lahr (Ret.) 15 16 (3) LODGED VIDEOTAPES 17 1. EXPERTS 2. EXPERT EYEWITNESSES 18 3. EYEWITNESSES 19 4. ANIMATIONS 4 (a) ANIMATION 20 21 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 22 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that plaintiff will and hereby does oppose 23 defendants' motion for summary judgment, on the grounds that genuine issues of 24 material fact remain at issue and therefore defendants are not entitled to entry of 25 judgment as a matter of law under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 26 This opposition is and will be based on the accompanying Memorandum of 27 Points and Authorities; the attached Declaration of John H. Clarke and the exhibits 28 thereto; the videotapes lodged herein; and the record in this case and such oral argument as may be presented at the motion hearing. -2- 1 DATED: November 14, 2003. 2 3 4 By 5 JOHN H. CLARKE Attorney for Plaintiff H. Ray Lahr 6 7 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS & AUTHORITIES 8 I. BACKGROUND. 11 9 10 II. NTSB HAS NO DELIBERATIVE PROCESS PRIVILEGE. 12 11 A. Not deliberative records. 12 B. Exemption 5 does not apply to factual documents. 13 12 C. No protection for records adopted in agency disposition. 13 13 III. NTSB'S VAUGHN INDEX GROSSLY INADEQUATE. 14 14 A. Deliberative process claims. 14 15 B. Failure to identify or produce records. 15 16 IV. BOEING HAS NO PROPRIETARY INTEREST. 17 17 A. Already public. .17 18 B. Boeing's performance data not proprietary. 19 C. Broader protection for "voluntarily produced" records 19 unavailable. 20 20 D. Boeing contemporaneous press release belies its present claim. 21 21 E. Insufficient explanation of how release 22 could cause substantial competitive harm. .21 23 V. FOIA'S BALANCING TEST MANDATES DISCLOSURE. 22 24 A. Trade secrets. 24 25 B. Party Process violations. 25 1. Eyewitnesses. 25 26 2. Zoom-climb records at issue. 26 27 3. Public safety. 27 28 C. Genesis and chronology of zoom-climb hypothesis. 28 ● December 30, 1996 – CIA idea. 28 -3- 1 ● November 17, 1997 – broadcast 2 of CIA-produced animation. 28 ● November 17, 1997 – Boeing's 3 contemporaneous press release. .29 4 ● December 8, 1997 – release of 5 NTSB-produced animations. 29 ● December 8, 1997 – release of NTSB 6 Exhibit 4-A; not in public docket. 29 7 D. NTSB bad faith fuels controversy & publicity. 30 1. Party members smuggled out evidence – necessitated 8 by illegal FBI takeover and party process violations. 30 9 2. NTSB deleted data. 30 3. Zoom-climb did not happen. 31 10 4. Zoom-climb could not happen. 33 11 CONCLUSION. 34 12 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 13 14 Cases Page Favish v. OIC, 217 F.3d at 1172 (9th Cir. 2000) . .12, 22, 24 15 EPA v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73, 89 (1973) . 13 16 Coastal States Gas Corp. v. Department of Energy, 17 617 F.2d 854, 867.(D.C. Cir. 1980) . 13 Playboy Enterprise v. Dept. of Justice, 18 677 F.2d 931, 935-36 (DC Cir. 1982) . 13 19 Union of Concerned Scientists v. NRC, 824 F.2d 1219 (D.C. Cir 1987) . 13 20 Bristol-Meyers v. FTC, 589 F.2d 18, 25 (D.C. Cir. 1978) . 14 21 Niemeier v. Watergate Spec. Prosecution Force, 565 F.2d 967, 971-72 (7th Cir. 1977) . 14 22 Krikorian v. Department of State, 23 984 F.2d 461, 467 (D.C. Cir. 1993) . 16 24 Hughes Aircraft v. Schlesinger, 384 F. Supp. 292 (N.D. Cal. 1974) . 19 25 Public Citizen Health Research Group v. Food & Drug Admin., 26 704 F.2d 1280 (D.C. Cir. 1983). 19, 22, 24 Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm’n, 27 975 F. 2d 871 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (en banc) cert. denied, 28 507 US 984 (1993) . 20 -4- 1 National Parks & Conservation Ass’n v. Morton, 2 498 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir.1974) . 20 Weiner v. F.B.I., 943 F.2d 972, 977-78 (9th Cir. 1991) . 21 3 Hayden v. NSA, 608 F.2d 1381, 1390 (D.C. Cir. 1979), 4 cert. denied, 446 US 937 (1980) . 21 5 United Sates Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 772-73 (1989) . 22 6 Crooker v. United States Parole Commission, 7 776 F. 2d 366, 367 (1st Cir. 1985) . 22 Jones v. FBI, 41 F.3d 238 (6th Cir. 1994) . 23 8 Castaneda v. United States, 757 F.2d 1010. .24, 30 9 Hunt v. FBI, 972 F.2d 286, 289 (9th Cir.1992) . 24 Stern v. FBI, 10 737 F.2d 84, 90 (D.C. Cir. 1984) . 24 11 Washington Post Co. v. Department of Health and Human Services, 12 690 F.2d 252, 268 (D.C. Cir. 1982), after remand, 795 F.2d 205 (D.C. Cir. 1986), subsequent opinion, 865 F.2d 320 (D.C. Cir. 1989) . 25 13 Beck v. Department of Justice, 14 997 F.2d 1489, 1492-94 (D.C. Cir 1993) . 30 Hardy v. FBI, 15 No. 95-883, slip op at 21 (D. Ariz. July 29, 1997) . 30 16 Weiner v. FBI, 17 No. 83-1720, slip op. at 7 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 6, 1995) . 30 18 Statutes 19 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) . 12 Fed. R. Ev. 105. 23 20 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4) . 11, 17 21 49 U.S.C. § 1131 . 25, 26 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) . 34 22 23 OFFER OF PROOF 24 Bates A Affidavit of Brett Hoffstadt. 35-36 25 CV . 37-38 26 B Affidavit of Darryl Hambley. 40 C Affidavits of Rear Admiral Clarence A. Hill, Jr., USN (Ret) . 41-51 27 D Affidavit of Robert Donaldson. 28 Exhibit 1: Letter from Commander William S. Donaldson, USN Ret. to NTSB Chairman James Hall, February 19, 2000, -5- 1 (4 pages & 3 attachments: Comparison of 2 figurers in 2 NTSB 22c, Islip Primary Hits, and Comparison of a Normal Ballistic Fall with the NTSB and CIA Climb 3 Theory (Exhibit 23 below)) . .68-74 4 Exhibit 2: TAGS Database, 2-page excerpt . 75-76 5 Exhibit 3: TWA Flight 800 Debris Field. 77 Exhibit 4: INTERIM REPORT ON THE CRASH OF TWA FLIGHT 800 6 AND THE ACTIONS OF THE NTSB AND THE FBI, BY 7 CMDR. WILLIAM S. DONALDSON, USN RET. IN COOPERATION WITH THE ASSOCIATION OF 8 RETIRED AVIATION PROFESSIONALS FOR THE 9 COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION 10 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 17, 1998 11 Table of Contents (3 pages) . .78-80 12 Exhibit 5: NTSB Radar Overhead View Exhibit 13A Attachment IV–5, (graphic) to Airplane Performance Study. 81 13 Exhibit 6: Composite of two Letters – April 1998 letter from 14 Congressman James J. Trafficant (D) Ohio and July 27, 1998 response from Lewis D. Schiliro, Acting FBI Assistant 15 Director-in-Charge (2 pages) . 82-83 16 Exhibit 7: One-page transcript of telephone conversation with 17 FBI N.Y. Field Office SAC James K. Kallstrom, two-page affidavit of Reed Irvine including authentication 18 (3 pages) . 84-86 19 Exhibit 8: Raw Radar Data, excerpt Islip Radar, xy coordinates for Excel Program. 87 20 Exhibit 9: Composite Radar, Graphic. 88 21 Exhibit 10: Debris Field, graphic, blowup Composite Radar Plot highlights Crosswind Blast Debris. 89 22 Exhibit 11: Debris Field, graphic, blowup, Composite Radar Plot 23 Location of debris from nose in yellow debris field 24 Green debris field location of main aircraft body, wings and tail section. 90 25 Exhibit 12: Plot of Aircraft Track by 3 Radars, graphic. 91 26 Exhibit 13: NTSB Debris Plot NTSB Wreckage Distribution Diagram.