mystery American woman wanted in the UK

[Premi5]

@GurjantGnostic what do you think?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56246511

The mystery American woman wanted in the UK

By Tara McKelvey
Vienna, Virginia

Published

3 hours ago

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• Harry Dunn crash

IMAGE COPYRIGHTMEGA AGENCY

Anne Sacoolas, a US citizen, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving in the UK, but returned home under the protection of diplomatic immunity. That doesn't mean she's escaped accountability.

In August 2019, Anne Sacoolas collided with motorcyclist Harry Dunn while driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK. 

The 19-year-old was taken to hospital and later died. Sacoolas returned to the US, claiming diplomatic immunity, and an extradition request was blocked.

But a US judge, TS Ellis, has said she must face the music, at least in civil court.

He ruled last month that a lawsuit filed in the US state of Virginia by Dunn's family could go forward. They are claiming wrongful death.

On Wednesday, Judge Ellis said the family could also pursue a damage claim against Sacoolas' husband. She was driving his SUV when the collision occurred.

Judge Ellis chastised Sacoolas in a court teleconference last month: "Accepting full responsibility doesn't mean you run away."

Ellis is a conservative judge, known for rulings that protect the government, especially the intelligence agencies. So his criticism of Sacoolas, and his decision to allow the civil claim to proceed, were surprising.

Sacoolas was charged in the UK with "causing death by dangerous driving", but has remained on US soil. 

IMAGE COPYRIGHTJUSTICE4HARRY19

image captionHarry Dunn died in hospital after his motorbike was involved in a crash outside RAF Croughton

The case has created tension between the two countries, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying this month his government would do "whatever we can to get justice" for Dunn. 

• Harry Dunn's mum appeals to Joe Biden
• 'It seems like only a few days since I held him'

And the decision to allow her to escape justice in the UK has infuriated the Dunn family and their supporters, who have made direct appeals to the US government to have her sent her back to Britain. 

State department officials say she has diplomatic immunity, a rule that dates back to the 1961 Vienna Convention protecting diplomats while they are working abroad. It was a privilege she was granted as the wife of a US intelligence officer, working in Britain for the US embassy.

Sacoolas' lawyer said she has taken responsibility for the collision, which occurred near RAF Croughton, the air force base in central England where her husband worked. 

IMAGE COPYRIGHTAFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

image captionFloral tributes mark on the roadside near the collision

In a statement released through her lawyer, she said she very briefly was instinctively driving on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred, and did everything she could to help Dunn.

The Dunn family wants her to face trial in the UK. So does British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who said letting her stay in the US, instead of returning to Britain for trial, was a "denial of justice".

She has not, however, escaped justice entirely.

National security lawyer Mark Zaid says the federal court in Virginia's Eastern district, where Judge Ellis presides, is the worst possible venue for those who are fighting the intelligence agencies: Ellis is "incredibly pro-CIA".

For that reason, the judge's criticism of Sacoolas, and of the government, was unusual, says Zaid: "Folks should really pay attention."

Sacoolas, 43, grew up in Aiken, South Carolina, and graduated from University of South Carolina. By 2003, she was living in Virginia, according to a wedding announcement in her hometown newspaper.

She studied psychology and was "worldly, sophisticated", says an old friend, Aaron Howard, who met her while he was tending bar: she drank negronis, a gin cocktail.

media caption'It's just another hurdle' Harry Dunn's parents say

Her house in Virginia was set back from the street, filled with sturdy, childproof furniture, exercise machines and books about espionage: a copy of Peter Maas's Killer Spy, a book about a CIA mole, Aldrich Ames, sat on a shelf.

But Sacoolas' occupation has been a bit mysterious. 

Her lawyer, John McGavin, said during a hearing last month that she worked for a US "intelligence agency", and that this had been "a factor" in her decision to leave the UK after the collision. 

Then, a moment later, he corrected himself, saying she worked for the US State Department. 

When the judge asked whether her job at the State Department was cover for her intelligence work, her lawyer said he did not have that information.

• Timeline: Events after Harry Dunn crash death

Sacoolas, her husband and their three children live in northern Virginia, a place with ornamental shrubbery, wide streets and American flags.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters are located here, and many of Sacoolas' friends and neighbours have jobs that are similar to the ones the couple hold - they work for the government, and for the intelligence services.

Sacoolas' diplomatic immunity has set off a debate in the US, and within the intelligence services, about the sweeping powers of intelligence officials and their families.

The immunity is meant to protect officials from false charges by a hostile government. The UK is an ally, though, and many were surprised when she left and avoided trial.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES

image captionFamily spokesman Radd Seiger, flanked by Harry Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn

Under former president Donald Trump, federal officials defended her in a forceful manner. 

A spokesman for Dunn's family, Radd Seiger, recalls the family's visit to the White House in 2019. They were asked to meet with Sacoolas, who was waiting nearby. They refused. 

Before they left the West Wing, Seiger says then National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told them: "She's never going back". 

Seiger and others thought the situation might change with the new president, Joe Biden. So far, it has not.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tells me that she has been following the Sacoolas story on the BBC, but deferred questions about the case to the State Department. State Department spokesman Ned Price says their position is clear: Sacoolas has diplomatic immunity, and their decision is "final".

Diplomatic immunity 'sacrosanct' 

The US defence of Sacoolas has come under increasing scrutiny.

Lawyer Zaid says: "We [the US] obviously have full faith in the British legal system, so it's somewhat shocking that we up and ran."

"Diplomatic immunity is not meant to shield our people from criminal or negligent activity. It is supposed to protect our diplomats from a hostile foreign government."

A former acting general counsel for the CIA, Robert Eatinger, says he understands why the officials have held the line.

If they made an exception for Sacoolas, he says, it would set a precedent.

Diplomatic immunity is "one of the things that the US considers sacrosanct," he says, adding: "Once you've waived it for Mr So-and-So, it opens up other issues."

IMAGE COPYRIGHTAFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

image captionThe CIA headquarters is located in Langley, Virginia

The officials may have good reasons for their decision. One possible concern is that the US wanted to protect operations - a trial could expose details of intelligence work.

Yet the waiver can still seem wrong to people. 

"There's an understanding at one level," says Eatinger, formerly of the CIA. "But at the other level, the human level, this just seems unfair."

A former CIA officer, Ilana Sara Greenstein, says the decision to grant diplomatic immunity reflects a certain mindset within the industry.

"There's a little bit of the God complex," she explains, describing the culture of the agency. "People walked around thinking: 'We can do what we want.'" 

In her view, diplomatic immunity for Sacoolas reinforces this belief.

'She has to accept responsibility' 

Today, Sacoolas's Virgian home is rented out, and she is living elsewhere while the civil case makes its way through the court.

One breezy afternoon last week, Jerry Haskins, 70, was next door to her old house. The road smelled like pine, and whitetail deer roamed through back lots. He looked down a long driveway, pointing to a spot where he first met her. 

"She was friendly enough," he says. "She walked up and introduced herself. I told her: 'Nice to meet you.'"

Today, he shakes his head. 

"She has to accept responsibility," he says. "Why didn't she stand trial?" 

Another neighbour, an IT expert who was striding past her house during his regular, mile-and-a-half walk, says she should have faced the consequences, rather than head home. "You own it up," he says, then continued on his way

[GurjantGnostic]

Sounds like she should be on trial in uk to me. 

12 minutes ago, Premi5 said:

 

"Diplomatic immunity is not meant to shield our people from criminal or negligent activity. It is supposed to protect our diplomats from a hostile foreign government."

 

[Premi5]

On 3/6/2021 at 4:12 AM, GurjantGnostic said:

Sounds like she should be on trial in uk to me. 

 

From bbc

The suspect in the death of Harry Dunn would be willing to do community service and make a "contribution" in his memory, her lawyer has said.

Mr Dunn, 19, died in a crash near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019.

The lawyer for suspect Anne Sacoolas, who later returned to the United States claiming diplomatic immunity, said such a crash would not usually be prosecuted criminally in the US.

Amy Jeffress added that her client "never denied that this was her fault".

The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge Mrs Sacoolas with causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving, but an extradition request was rejected by the US government in January 2020.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTAIKEN STANDARD ARCHIVE

image captionAnne Sacoolas, pictured on her wedding day in 2003, cited diplomatic immunity after the crash and returned to the US

Speaking to Joshua Rozenberg, for BBC Radio 4's Law in Action, Ms Jeffress said they had been trying to resolve the case in a way that would not involve Mrs Sacoolas's return to the UK.

Ms Jeffress said: "We understand that community service is a typical sentence for offences like this.

"We have offered ever since over a year ago that she would be willing to serve that kind of a sentence and to make a contribution in Harry's memory, to take other steps to try to bring some peace to the family."

 

[GurjantGnostic]

15 minutes ago, Premi5 said:

From bbc

The suspect in the death of Harry Dunn would be willing to do community service and make a "contribution" in his memory, her lawyer has said.

Mr Dunn, 19, died in a crash near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019.

The lawyer for suspect Anne Sacoolas, who later returned to the United States claiming diplomatic immunity, said such a crash would not usually be prosecuted criminally in the US.

Amy Jeffress added that her client "never denied that this was her fault".

The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge Mrs Sacoolas with causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving, but an extradition request was rejected by the US government in January 2020.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTAIKEN STANDARD ARCHIVE

image captionAnne Sacoolas, pictured on her wedding day in 2003, cited diplomatic immunity after the crash and returned to the US

Speaking to Joshua Rozenberg, for BBC Radio 4's Law in Action, Ms Jeffress said they had been trying to resolve the case in a way that would not involve Mrs Sacoolas's return to the UK.

Ms Jeffress said: "We understand that community service is a typical sentence for offences like this.

"We have offered ever since over a year ago that she would be willing to serve that kind of a sentence and to make a contribution in Harry's memory, to take other steps to try to bring some peace to the family."

 

 

Glad they charged her. Disrespectful the us blocked extradition. If she's really willing to embrace what the uk would do in court she should go face that court. 

If she knew what she was doing, esacping responsibility for a death using corrupt privilage, she'd have turned herself in. If she evades prosecution in uk it's not going to help her in front of Dharam Rai. 

She has already paid the price, this has been her chance to pay on it early and change the nature of it and so far she's failed, and the us gov has failed and they will hear about it from a source they can't deny soon enough. 

I bet if it was her son dead she'd be thinking like a mother not a little girl trying to evade responsibility. 

That same type of impunity has been upheld to the current day when police perform "lynchings". That's why things get tense. The end of patience for hundreds of years of that and far worse. Not stopping and not being held accountable. So welcome to the reservation. 

This situation is upsetting on its own and holds zero candle to the bigger issue. 

[kcmidlands]

I heard an interview with he lawyer on the radio yesterday, some of the excuses she was coming out with were ridiculous, there was a rumour a while back that she works for the intelligence services as well (her husband does), hence it would be difficult to get her back over here.

[Premi5]

This case seems not to be going anywhere  positive for the Dunn family, fast

if she were to ‘face justice’ then it would set precedent for opening up many other past dubious cases, most of which have little publicity 

I don’t think that the boy being working class has helped the family’s case; if he were a wealthy middle class man it might have been a little different

[Premi5]

@GurjantGnostic

from BBC website

Harry Dunn: Parents reach resolution in civil case against suspect

Published

51 minutes ago

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• Harry Dunn crash

IMAGE SOURCE,JUSTICE4HARRY19

image captionHarry Dunn died in hospital after his motorbike was involved in a crash outside RAF Croughton

The parents of Harry Dunn have reached a "resolution" in a civil claim for damages with the woman alleged to have killed him, the family's spokesman has said.

Mr Dunn, 19, died when his motorbike was hit by a car said to be driven by US citizen Anne Sacoolas near RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire, in 2019.

She later left the country, claiming diplomatic immunity.

Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger said the outcome was "a real milestone".

Details of the agreement reached between the parties involved in the civil case have not been disclosed.

IMAGE SOURCE,MEGA AGENCY

image captionAnne Sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity after Harry Dunn died

The teenager's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, brought the civil claim against Mrs Sacoolas in the US state of Virginia.

Mrs Sacoolas, 44, and her husband were due to give evidence last month but it was postponed.

Mr Seiger said Mr Dunn's parents would now be able to "put this part of the campaign behind them".

He said: "The family's courage and determination to see this through has been incredible."

It is alleged Mrs Sacoolas's car struck the teenager's motorbike moments after she left RAF Croughton, where her husband Jonathan worked for a US intelligence agency.

In December 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge Mrs Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving.

However, an extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas to be brought to the UK was rejected by the US government.

The case at the Alexandria District Court in Virginia heard the couple's work in intelligence was a "factor" in their departure from the UK, as they left for "security reasons".

IMAGE SOURCE,ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA WIRE

image captionCharlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, the parents of Harry Dunn, flew out to the US for parts of the civil case

Mr Seiger said the family's case in the US had been supported by the former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

He said the family would now "turn their attention to the criminal case and the long-awaited inquest into Harry's death which will follow the criminal case".

• How the death of a teen became a transatlantic row
• Timeline: Events after Harry Dunn crash death
• Harry Dunn crash extradition refusal 'final'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised Mr Dunn's case with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

Speaking on the train to Washington where she will meet with Joe Biden, Ms Truss said the resolution of the civil case was "absolutely not" the end of efforts to get Mrs Sacoolas to return to the UK.

"We continue to press for justice for Harry," she said.

Legal representatives for Mrs Sacoolas have been approached for comment.