The court ruled against Corrie's family on August 28, 2012. In a 62-page verdict, Judge Oded Gershon ruled that Corrie's death was an accident for which she was responsible, and absolved the IDF of any wrongdoing. The judge ruled that the bulldozer driver and his commander had a very limited field of vision and could not possibly have seen her. According to the judge "The mission of the IDF force on the day of the incident was solely to clear the ground... The mission did not include, in any way, the demolition of homes." The court invoked the principle of the combatant activities exception, as the IDF was attacked in the same area where Corrie was killed a few hours earlier; that Corrie could have avoided the danger and that defendants were not at fault as there was neither intent nor negligence involved in her death. The judge said that the IDF did not violate Corrie's right to life because Corrie had placed herself in a dangerous situation, that Israel's investigation was appropriate and did not contain mistakes, and also criticized the U.S. government for failing to send a diplomatic representative to observe Corrie's autopsy. Gershon said: "I rule unequivocally that the claim that the deceased was intentionally hit by the bulldozer is totally baseless. This was an extremely unfortunate accident. I reached the conclusion that there was no negligence on the part of the bulldozer driver. I reject the suit. There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages. She did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done. She consciously put herself in harm's way."