More on Sirhan’s request for a new trial from Russ Baker at WhoWhatWhy.com:
Pepper and his experts believe that Sirhan was selected to be the patsy in RFK’s death, distracting everyone while a professional assassin fired the fatal shots unobtrusively from inches behind Kennedy—from a crouched position in the crush of people so his actions would not be noticed, milliseconds after Sirhan shot and missed and was immobilized.
Pepper’s key argument is that Sirhan, by all accounts, was positioned several feet in front of Kennedy (who was moving toward him), while forensic evidence and extensive eyewitness testimony shows that Kennedy was actually hit in the back from just inches away.
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In his filing, Pepper writes:
Inadvertantly [sic], the Report begins by actually supporting Petitioner’s claim of actual innocence. It states: “As Senator Kennedy stopped to shake hands with hotel employees, Petitioner walked toward him extending his arm. Instead of shaking Senator Kennedy’s hand, Petitioner shot him.”(CD 199 at p.1)
This recitation of the activity leading up to the shooting is a virtual admission of Petitioner’s innocence since Senator Kennedy was hit by three bullets, fired in an upward angle (indicating that the shooter may have been kneeling behind the Senator) from behind him, by a weapon pressed up against his back with the fatal shot fired about an inch behind his right ear. All shots left powder burns on the back of his jacket and on his skin behind his right ear.
The Report explicitly acknowledges, along with the statements of twelve eye witnesses, that Petitioner was, at all times, in front of the Senator, where, as the Report confirms, the Petitioner could have shaken hands with him.
Petitioner questions whether further comment is necessary in light of this embarrassingly absurd factual foundation for the recommendation that the Petition be dismissed.
Pepper contends that the magistrate, in arguing against a new trial, totally ignored the factual material while focusing on procedural issues. In essence, the dispute comes down to whether those procedural issues can or should trump the notion of “actual innocence.”
This is the conspiracy that never was. Sirhan Sirhan did the deed. He shot Kennedy because he was really pissed off about Kennedy’s support for Israel and the sale of fighter jets and missiles to the Israelis. He also believed that Kennedy was a racist when it came to the Palestinians.
Im, you’re 100% wrong about this. I was living in LA when this happened, and the contemporaneous evidence, especially in the alternative weekly, was at odds with the official explanation. For one thing, there were more bullets found in the kitchen than Sirhan’s gun could hold. Also, eyewitness accounts of the direction of the shots, powder burns on RFK’s head and clothing, etc.
I’m amazed how effective “lone gunmen” are when targeting political figures on the left (two Kennedys, MLK, Malcom X), and how they don’t quite get the job done when going after those on the right (Wallace, Reagan, Ford).
Sounds like a crock to me. The whole corridor is filled with people but nobody saw this mysterious second gunman and, miracle of miracles, two shooters and all those bullets and nobody else gets hit? With all those people in the corridor? Spare me the conspiracy nonsense. Some people just love to feel like they see something nobody else sees and that the obvious explanation can never be right. It was Sirhan who killed Kennedy and he should remain in prison forever for what he did to America that day. The little shit. The little shit murderer who killed a decent man who could have changed the history of this nation for the better.
Witnesses say their testimony was altered. Imagine that.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/justice/california-rfk-second-gun