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. , @... AND WHEREFORES @ "It appears to be appropriate at the outset of this inquest . -: that the reason for its existence, the results that it is intend- ed to gccomplish, and the rules of procedure and conduct I -am adoptiégg and ordering...should be pronounced... , *“*Inquests are, of course, primarily for the purpose of ascer- taining whether or not any crime has been committed’, says the Massachusetts Law Quarterly, 1921. : "“'The primary object of an inquest is to ascertain facts, to * decide the question of whether or not criminal proceedings shall be instituted against the person’or persons responsible for the ' @eath.', Massachusetts Law Quarterly, 1925. "An inquest is an investigation. It is not a prosecution of anybody. It is not a trial of anyone. It is the duty of the Court to seek out and receive any and all informaticn and testi- mony which is relevant, pertinent and materiul to the question as to whether criminal conduct caused or contributed to the death - and, conversely, to reject that which is not. "Although the Judge is not bound by the rules of evidence that apply in criminal cases, it is as much the duty of the Court to decline to receive such improper testimony to the end that persons innocent of any criminal involvement be not injured in reputaticn. "For the reasons stated above and because this is not an ad- Versary proceeding, transcript of testimony will not be furnished to the District Atterney or counse:." . _ Slightly abridged, but with nothing relevant omitcea, the asove were the words of the Honorable James A. Boyle, presiding, at the opening of the Kennedy~Kopechne inquest, Monday morning, January 5, 1970. ‘»During the next four days, twenty-seven witnesses testified -. person and several others--physicians, medical technicians, a phys- _icist, engineers, all with a most impressive professional biography and array of qualifications in their respective fields--testified by affidavit (which, unfortunately, permitted no questioning of their statements). This took more than 750 pages of transcript, and then came Judge Boyle's 4,000-word report, from which the fol- lowing is excerpted. (The Inquest, p.125.) *...there are inconsistencies and contradictions in the testimony, which a comparison of individual testimony will. show. It is not feasible to indicate each one.” Indeed, there were inconsistencies. and contradictions. Som were with respect to certain incidents of common experience given by more than one witness, while others involve self-contradiction an@ contradiction with fact. The Judge, please note, implied dis- belief of certain portions of Senator Kennedy's testimony by stat- ing, a little further on and in view of a list of observable facts gleaned from several of the testimonies (see appendix) -- gl