Senna case to be reopened.

[Inigo Montoya]

http://www.gazzetta.it/statics/smoto...907915139.html

Its in Italian, but the gist of it is that the courts have ruled the original judgement of acquittal of Williams, Head and Newey as "illogical."

This ain't over yet...

[Adam43]

Senna, the appeal process is from rifaring

The Cassation has received the resource of the Power of attorney of illogical and conflicting Bologna judging the sentence of acquittal for Williams, Head and Newey.
BOLOGNA, 27 January 2003 - the process of appeal for the dead women of Ayrton Senna is from rifaring. It has established Court of Cassation, cancelling on resource of the Attorney General's Office of Bologna the sentence with which the Appeals Court of the capoluogo emiliano it had acquitted, "why the fact not sussiste", you concern us of the British scuderia Williams. The holder Franck Williams, the production manager Patrick Head and the planner Adrian Newey had been accused of culpable homicide in relation to the dead women of the happened Brazilian champion during the GP of Saint Marino to Imola, first May 1994: Senna crashed against the external wall to the curve of the Tamburello as a result of the breach of the piantone of the steering.The judges of the Supreme court in fact have received the reasons with which the substitute Attorney general Rinaldo Rosini he had asked to cancel the sentence of acquittal of Head and Newey. The two had been acquitted also in first degree, together to patron the Frank Williams, from the pretore of Imola Antonio Costanzo, but various it had been the formula. The monocratico judge (that he had acquitted "because the fact not sussiste" also the Italian coimputati ones, the responsibles of the automobile race track of Imola) had supported the hypothesis "in order not to have store clerk the fact", supporting in practical that was tried the task second which the cause of the dead women had been the breach of the piantone of the steering of the car. A breach caused from a "defect" of planning and construction of which but it was not possible to establish who was really responsible.The judges of second degree (the court was presided from Francisco Mario Agnoli) used in order to acquit the not sussiste hypothesis of the "fact", even though to the senses of the art. 530 according to codicil of the criminal procedure, what it takes part when they are thought not sufficient or conflicting the indications to cargo of charge to you. In practical that one that in the old trial-like ritual was the insufficiency of tests. Rosini, in its resource, has supported the illogicitÃ* and the contraddittorietÃ* of the sentence, thinking that the task of the appeal judges was wrong second which had not been tried the "nexus motive" between the conduct of charges and the dead women to you. And that it was an error to judge "not tried" the breach of the piantone of the steering. The Cassation has given reason to it and now the papers will be resumed probably within the year. The date still has not been fixed, but it will be still Rinaldo Rosini to support the accusation.

Comedy internet translation of http://www.gazzetta.it/statics/smoto...907915139.html

[Inigo Montoya]

I would try to translate for you, but there is so much legal jargon in the article, that I wouldn't know where to start.

By the way, rifaring means redoing. They are ruling that the appeal that acquitted Williams, Newey, and Head needs to be refiled and reheard. I guess they are not off the hook yet.

[aka Robbie]

Quickly translating the page on Altavista we get:

The Cassation has received the resource of the Power of attorney of illogical and conflicting Bologna judging the sentence of acquittal for Williams, Head and Newey.
BOLOGNA, 27 January 2003 - the process of appeal for the death of Ayrton Senna is from rifaring. It has established Court of Cassation, cancelling on resource of the Attorney General's Office of Bologna the sentence with which the Appeals Court of the capoluogo emiliano it had acquitted, "why the fact not sussiste", you concern us of the British scuderia Williams. The holder Franck Williams, the production manager Patrick Head and the planner Adrian Newey had been accused of culpable homicide in relation to the death of the Brazilian champion during the GP of Saint Marino to Imola, first May 1994: Senna crashed against the external wall to the curve of the Tamburello as a result of the breach of the piantone of the steering. The judges of the Supreme court in fact have received the reasons with which the substitute Attorney general Rinaldo Rosini he had asked to cancel the sentence of acquittal of Head and Newey. The two had been acquitted also in first degree, together to patron the Frank Williams, from the pretore of Imola Antonio Costanzo, but various it had been the formula. The monocratico judge (that he had acquitted "because the fact not sussiste" also the Italian coimputati ones, the responsibles of the automobile race track of Imola) had supported the hypothesis "in order not to have store clerk the fact", supporting in practical that was tried the task second which the cause of the death had been the breach of the piantone of the steering of the car. A breach caused from a "defect" of planning and construction of which but it was not possible to establish who was really responsible. The judges of second degree (the court was presided from Francisco Mario Agnoli) used in order to acquit the not sussiste hypothesis of the "fact", even though to the senses of the art. 530 according to codicil of the criminal procedure, what it takes part when they are thought not sufficient or conflicting the indications to cargo of charge to you. In practical that one that in the old trial-like ritual was the insufficiency of tests. Rosini, in its resource, has supported the illogicitÃ* and the contraddittorietÃ* of the sentence, thinking that the task of the appeal judges was wrong second which had not been tried the "nexus motive" between the conduct of charges and the death to you. And that it was an error to judge "not tried" the breach of the piantone of the steering. The Cassation has given reason to it and now the papers will be resumed probably within the year. The date still has not been fixed, but it will be still Rinaldo Rosini to support the accusation.

[Damon]

Oh this is just silly, can't they let Ayrton rest in peace. It's been 9 years this may for god sake, let it go. It was a tragic accident nothing more. The thought that Head, Newey and Williams would conspire to kill the greatest race driver in history is what's ilogical.

[Inigo Montoya]

I don't think that the judges are claiming that they conspired to kill him, only that he might have died through their negligence... Whether this is the case, is important to establish, don't you think?

[Damon]

I thought they already established that this wasn't the case? After some 5 years of investigation.

[R]

Perhaps you're right, Inigo. After all, we're talking about a man's life here. OTOH, we're also talking about Motor Racing, and everyone involved knows there is danger...

My first thought when I read the title of this thread was: "Oh, God, not that whole saga again..." The case dragged on for far too long as it was, and I don't want to see that happening again. And what about poor Roland? Why haven't there been any investigations into his death? Isn't dismissing his fatal accident as a "rookie error" too easy a thing to do? Was Ayrton's life more important than Roland's?

[JohnSSC]

If this weren't so sad it would be funny. The mods just closed a thread about drivers refusing to wear the HANS devices (was getting a bit personal) - but one of the thoughts was: "They are racing. They know it is dangerous. It is their choice."

Now we have someone trying to affix criminal culpability for a death that occurred during what is universally recognized as "dangerous." What does this prosecutor stand to gain?

And I do recall reading (it was a summary from a tv report) that showed his death was not due to a failure in the car or design. It was simply (however tragically) the impact after a loss of control unrelated to any steering failure. Wish I could remember the site I was on...

[JohnSSC]

R, I think someone is trying to make a reputation here so for those purposes, poor Roland would not be "significant" enough. But I agree, his life, to his friends, family and fans was no less valuable than any other.

[Inigo Montoya]

I understand where you are coming from R, JohnSSC, and Damon... but... the fact that Senna was doing something he enjoyed doing and it happened to carry the risk of death has nothing to do with it.

If someone you love goes off on a holiday on an airplane, there is a (however small) risk of the plane going down. If it did go down, don't you think you'd want to know whether the plane was put together properly in the first place, or if it was poorly maintained?

These things need to be investigated fully, and if it takes 25 years, then so be it.

[Spudgun]

This is just stupid. Why don't they just let it lie?

How many drivers have been killed in F1? How many have been caused by defective car parts and inadequate track safety measures?

If they are going to go all through this again, why not make enquiries into all these cases too?

This just looks like a witch hunt to me. Someone wants a certain outcome and they're not going to stop until they get it.

[R]

Inigo, I did try to find a balance in my post. Just because something is dangerous doesn't mean anyone can walk free if there has been negligence involved. But the Senna case did drag on for ages, and reading that it will be re-opened now, nearly nine years after his death, did come as a surprise, and it brings back bad memories from that horrendous weekend. So I would have thought that everything had been brought to light, seeing as the case lasted for as long as it did.

But for goodness sake, if there are issues surrounding Senna's death which haven't been clarified properly, then everything should be done to make things as clear as possible.

[Valve Bounce]

My first reaction was that some Young Turk is trying to make a political reputation for himself.
My second thought was :where is the evidence now? Where is the crashed car and its components?
Thirdly, are they going to hear the case all over again or simply review the mountain of evidence given?

[Inigo Montoya]

You did have balance in your post, R I'm the one with the unbalance. Has anyone found an english language story on this? I speak and read italian well, but this is just impossible to understand with all that legal mumbo-jumbo... I'd like answers to what VB asked.

[ASCII Man]

Williams still have the car and components IIRC.

[Adam43]

It was years and years before Williams got the car back and I'm pretty sure they destroyed it when they did get it back.

[Lee Janotta]

Well, we more or less know what caused Roland's crash, when the front wing of his Simtek was damaged in an off-track excursion, then broke at high speed.

Likewise we _know_ Aryton's steering column had been modified at his request, the steel tube cut and a new section welded in to lengthen it, and it was found broken at one of the welds in the wreckage!

Where it gets murky is the whole coverup which it _appears_ took place at Williams F1 after the crash. The "black box" which looked like it had been smashed with a hammer. Damon Hill's rather nervous testimony regarding the movement in the steering column observed in the in-car video being natural for the car.

Why would Williams cover things up? The criminal charges, I don't believe, were ever the issue. But with _so_ much money in F1 even in '94, Williams and Head could have lost the whole team in a myriad of civil suits from the de Silva family, sponsors, and promoters.

I can't imagine _anyone_ could want Senna dead, certainly not in the Williams team.

The saddest fact is that Senna should have been able to get out of the car and walk back to the trailer. But the right front wheel and suspension came back and clobbered him about the head, and ended the life of one of the greatest drivers ever.

Yup. Better wheel tethers, and maybe some fully-paved runoff at Tamburello (without that grass strip at the edge of the track), would have saved Senna. Not a chicane, not a HANS device, not 8 years of the FIA trying desperatly to slow cars down... Wheel tethers.

[ASCII Man]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
It was years and years before Williams got the car back and I'm pretty sure they destroyed it when they did get it back.

Some time ago i read on a website (think it was www.f1racing.net) that Williams was still wondering what to do with the car.

[ASCII Man]

Sir Frank Williams has denied that the Williams FW16 car, driven by Ayrton Senna when he was tragically killed at Imola in 1994, has not been destroyed, contrary to media reports following its release by Italian police last month.

The car was impounded after Senna's death and was held throughout subsequent court cases.

"At the moment the car has not been destroyed," a spokesman told Reuters. "But its future will remain as a private matter."
(Source: www.f1racing.net - 20 april 2002)

[Lee Janotta]

I'm sure we'll never see that car again, at least not for half a century. I'd wager it's either been destroyed, or is buried in an old barn somewhere in the midlands.

[ASCII Man]

Probably somewhere in the basement of the factory.

[Matthopps]

Originally posted by Damon
Oh this is just silly, can't they let Ayrton rest in peace. It's been 9 years this may for god sake, let it go. It was a tragic accident nothing more. The thought that Head, Newey and Williams would conspire to kill the greatest race driver in history is what's ilogical.

I'd second this opinion: I think somebody-probably a high court judge, WANTS to see someone, or some organisation (probably Williams) blamed/found guilty for Senna's death even if there is nobody to blame! as it was just an accident.
And anyway, even if there was a conspiricy to kill Senna then surely there would have been similar conspiricy's to kill other stars - we all remember the Plane crash David Coulthard suffered in 2000 don't we? - followed just a few (4?) weeks later by Frankie Detori's similar incident!

[Inigo Montoya]

Originally posted by Matthopps
And anyway, even if there was a conspiricy to kill Senna

Who is claiming this nonsense?

[Minardi4eva]

Racing Heaven:

Ayrton:Lets see whats on today...
Newscaster:and Williams,Head and Newey are set for a court date of May 2003....
Ayrtony vey.....