Truls Dramer
Strategic Concepts & Mechanics
Primary Evidence
"When the police on June 5, 1986, emptied the premises of Marine Management of documents, important and unimportant, they dug their own grave. The police's seizure of documents filled an entire room from floor to ceiling. By not returning all documents that were irrelevant, they jumped into the grave themselves. Truls Dramer and Sture Eriksen had the pleasure of filling it back in. The idea came by sheer coincidence. The two lawyers were on the phone discussing the case when Dramer stumbled over some technical terms. "Hey, you’re not qualified to defend in this case. You don’t know the facts well enough," joked Sture Eriksen. "I have a basic degree in English, but I’m not used to using these English terms. We should have had them translated," Dramer replied. Suddenly, a brilliant idea dawned on both of them. "All documents should have been translated, absolutely all. We must demand it for the sake of correct legal procedure," Sture Eriksen beamed. The district court could hardly do anything but accept the request, while the police were seething with rage. It was going to get worse later on. The case was initially scheduled for March 1988, but on January 15th, news came that the case was to be postponed for the third time, now due to "partially severe translation errors." It is rare for defenders to get free passes for an open goal, but here the Fredriksen side was served the ball on a silver platter. The police chose an unauthorized translator, and the defense was eventually able to demonstrate some astonishing misunderstandings. The common word "gearing," which means debt ratio, was translated as "transmission," as if it concerned a vehicle with gears. The translator obviously had no knowledge of shipping or economics, and several of the documents appeared as complete gibberish. The defenders rejoiced, the police despaired – and then came the next trump card from the defense."
"When the police on June 5, 1986, emptied the premises of Marine Management of documents, important and unimportant, they dug their own grave. The police's seizure of documents filled an entire room from floor to ceiling. By not returning all documents that were irrelevant, they jumped into the grave themselves. Truls Dramer and Sture Eriksen had the pleasure of filling it back in. The idea came by sheer coincidence. The two lawyers were on the phone discussing the case when Dramer stumbled over some technical terms. "Hey, you’re not qualified to defend in this case. You don’t know the facts well enough," joked Sture Eriksen. "I have a basic degree in English, but I’m not used to using these English terms. We should have had them translated," Dramer replied. Suddenly, a brilliant idea dawned on both of them. "All documents should have been translated, absolutely all. We must demand it for the sake of correct legal procedure," Sture Eriksen beamed. The district court could hardly do anything but accept the request, while the police were seething with rage. It was going to get worse later on. The case was initially scheduled for March 1988, but on January 15th, news came that the case was to be postponed for the third time, now due to "partially severe translation errors." It is rare for defenders to get free passes for an open goal, but here the Fredriksen side was served the ball on a silver platter. The police chose an unauthorized translator, and the defense was eventually able to demonstrate some astonishing misunderstandings. The common word "gearing," which means debt ratio, was translated as "transmission," as if it concerned a vehicle with gears. The translator obviously had no knowledge of shipping or economics, and several of the documents appeared as complete gibberish. The defenders rejoiced, the police despaired – and then came the next trump card from the defense."