Originally posted by Monty
View Post
This post of Montys sits well alongside the one some years back where he publicly accused me and Edward of having made money from the event in St Johns where the Lechmere theory was originally presented.
He was of course completely wrong that time - we did not make a penny from it, it all went to the Stairway of Heaven foundation and I even paid the flight to London myself to be able to participate. Monty later claimed to have apologized for having made this accusation, but there was never any such apology offered on his behalf.
That is another "bottom" line that becomes interesting to look at when it comes to weighing up the value of Montys current post.
It probably applies that James Scobie was paid for his participation (once again, I do not know, so I am not able to say with certainty, but it is a fair guess). Most experts arguably are, when they are asked by film companies to go public with their expertise.
The question is, would Scobie - or any other expert - be likely to say something they genuinely do not believe themselves and that goes against their professional experience to make a few quid...? Would they sell out totally ethically and professionally like that? Because that is what is seemingly implied by Monty in his post. Please correct me if I am wrong, Monty.
I prefer to think that Scobie was giving his honest opinion, and since there are many examples of trials that have come about on less evidence than what is involved in the Lechmere case, I see no practical possibility to come even anywhere close to proving the suggestion that Scobies verdict was one that he did not stand behind from a professional angle.
The person who has the onus of proof in this case is of course Monty: If he thinks that Scobie would have altered his take on matters of his profession in order to make money from it, then the sensible thing to do is to provide proof for it.
If that cannot be done, then I am of the meaning that the kind of "debate" Monty offers has nothing to do on these boards.
Finally, if Monty is NOT implying that Scobie adjusted his verdict to fit the Lechmere theory for money, then there is no problem - then we agree, he reasonably never did. Maybe Monty is just irritated by how the film crew used material that serves the purpose of underlining how it seems Lechmere could well have been the killer? If so, welcome to the real world!
If really hope this covers it all, because this kind of debate is something I would very much prefer not to have to engage in any further.
Comment