Former Portuguese detective Gonçalo Amaral wins appeal in damages trial.

[jassi]

Were we surprised?

I was surprised by the degree of venom that spewed forth from people , who allegedly, have absolutely no connection with the McCanns.

[G-Unit]

Kate McCann's bike ride fundraiser was for Missing People not for herself.

The appeal for Amaral deceived people,   they called it 'Justice for Madeleine'   some people [as they really don't follow the case]   thought that somehow Amaral was going to have the McCann's arrested when he won his appeal,  even now I read on twitter 'arrests soon then'   really these people have no idea.    That appeal Justice for Madeleine was even put out on Madeleine's birthday which was really disgusting.   I read on one of the papers comment section that one poster was watching Richard Halls video's,  so you have all the conspiracy groups commenting on there,  plus the nasty groups just organised to abuse the McCann's.    One person who has got a petition for SY with over a thousand signatures,  all of those probably commented.

They don't represent the general public,   they represent the mass who have made the Madeleine case their life ambition.

It desn't matter what Kate was fundraising for. Her 'name' should have helped raise money easily with all the supposed support and sympathy she allegedly enjoys. It didn't.

How is it that those who support the McCanns insist that anyone who doesn't is 'deceived' and 'doesn't understand' the case? The inference being that only the supporters are capable of recognising truth and understanding the complexities of the case. I didn't see any evidence of this superior intellect when the supporter's were predicting that Amaral had no grounds to appeal and that he would lose if he was allowed to appeal. Whoops! Now it's all the fault of a 'fascist state'. Oh dear, talk about abuse.....

The supporters don't represent the general public either, don't forget.

[carlymichelle]

I was surprised by the degree of venom that spewed forth from people , who allegedly, have absolutely no connection with the McCanns.

so was i they have been openly hostile and agressive    why do they care so much  about  people they appently  dont  know?? i just find it  strange   

[Mr Gray]

Reports from Portugal that Amaral will contersue the mccanns  for 'moral and financial  losses'.

reports from whom..he's been claiming this for years

[ferryman]

Well yesterday the appeal was being touted by some as a done deal. It was self evident to some of us, indeed posted though it may have been whooshed, that some fancy and expensive legal tap dancing would be necessary to come up with grounds for appeal.
Who are the judges anyway? Again self evident; duly appointed officers of the Portuguese judiciary. I doubt even in Portugal they make a habit of dragging itinerants off the street to sit in judgement in the court of appeal. Though I have reason to believe some posters who consider themsleves in the know, believe just that.

Fancy and expensive tap-dancing?

Let's see.

Amaral has a right to say anything that's in the files (true or not).

A complication is that stuff in the files is contradicted by other stuff, also, in the files.

So it's in the files (Almeida's interim report) that Eddie 'scented death' all over the place.

And it's in the files (Grime and Harrison) that no evidential reliability can be placed on the reactions of the dogs.

Does that entitle Amaral to say Eddie 'scented death' all over the place?

Or doesn't it?

It shouldn't, because there ought to be a general acceptance that Grime and Harrison have a clearer view (and more complete understanding) of what they are talking about than Almeida.

Amaral lied (about contradicting and correcting Prior on interpretation of the forensic results).

Amaral lied (about the role and pronouncements of Mark Harrison).

Amaral says Madeleine is dead when the present enquiry says she may be alive.

Amaral thinks calpol is a 'sleeping solution' (sedative).  It is not.

Amaral's final chapter directly contradicts the conclusions of the Portuguese prosecutors (from the shelved enquiry).

[Mr Gray]

such sorrow and devastation for people  they dont know isnt normal  imo

I would say I am quite normal and anyone who thinks I am not must have problems of their own

[Alice Purjorick]

I really feeling like doin' a George Bush Sr here 
"Now read my lips"

"The Portuguese Court of Appeal has found in Sr Amaral's favour".
What posters on here feel about it, me included, is bleedin' irrelevant.
It makes no difference the judgement is what it is.

[misty]

so was i they have been openly hostile and agressive    why do they care so much  about  people they appently  dont  know??

Why do you hold a man you don't know in such high esteem after he was deemed by his superiors to be a liability to the investigation of a missing child?

[carlymichelle]

I really feeling like doin' a George Bush Sr here 
"Now read my lips"

"The Portuguese Court of Appeal has found in Sr Amaral's favour".
What posters on here feel about it, me included, is bleedin' irrelevant.
It makes no difference the judgement is what it is.

   exactly    alice  and it wont  change   and   all the  wailling  and knashing of teeth  wont  either

[stephen25000]

I really feeling like doin' a George Bush Sr here 
"Now read my lips"

"The Portuguese Court of Appeal has found in Sr Amaral's favour".
What posters on here feel about it, me included, is bleedin' irrelevant.
It makes no difference the judgement is what it is.

PRECISELY.

A judgement has been made.

The supporters were happy and gloating last time.

They need to get over it.

[pathfinder73]

Ex-police chief who claimed McCanns covered up Maddie's death by faking her disappearance 'to sue' couple

Goncalo Amaral announces legal action, with the McCanns already reeling from losing £430k in libel fees

THE EX-police chief who claimed "the McCanns covered up Maddie's death by faking her disappearance" has announced he is planning to sue the couple for compensation in a new blow for the couple.

Goncalo Amaral yesterday won an appeal against paying the Brit parents 500,000 euros (£430,000), after a year-long battle against their libel win over his explosive book 'Maddy,The Truth of the Lie'.

The former detective, who worked on the four-year-old's disappearance case in the opening days, claimed the McCanns "covered up Maddie's death by faking her disappearance" in the hurtful book.

Gerry and Kate previously won a libel case against the damning claims, but were heartbroken last night after this was overturned by three judges in an appeal.

The parents had planned to put the £430,000 into their Find Maddie fund.

Amaral's lawyer yesterday announced after the libel U-turn he would sue the McCanns for damages, claiming the couple’s long-running court fight had cost his client money and harmed his reputation.

Miguel Cruz Rodrigues told respected Portuguese daily Expresso: “We are going to advance with a compensation claim against the McCanns.

“My client has suffered years of prejudice and losses.”

He added today: “The Lisbon appeal court decision reinforces our aim to go for a claim against the McCanns for damages over what have been years of financial losses in which my client’s good name has been called into question.”

His claims came just hours after Guerra e Paz, editor of ‘The Truth of the Lie’, announced it would try to rush out new copies of Amaral’s book by next week.

The nightmare scenario for the McCanns paves the way for the book, which Kate McCann has described in court as “devastating and distressing” to go on sale throughout Europe.

The appeal judges said Amaral’s right to express his opinions overruled any duty of confidentiality he had as an ex-police chief heading the Madeleine McCann investigation once the case files, made available on the Internet by Portuguese authorities, were put into the public domain.

The retired detective, who was removed as head of the investigation into Madeleine’s May 3 2007 disappearance after criticising British detectives, had always denied defamation.

The judge concluded he played on his status as a long-serving police officer to present personal opinions and claims about the high-profile case as fact.

The McCanns’ Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte has already said she will fight the libel U-turn by appealing to the country’s Supreme Court.

She has 30 days to submit the appeal.

A friend of the couple said they were “seething” over the appeal ruling.

Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “The process is not over yet. It is a matter for Kate and Gerry’s lawyers to deal with.”

Ms Duarte said: “This decision was an appreciation of the law and not the facts.

“We can appeal to the Supreme Court which we will do as we have instructions from our clients.”

Amaral is understood to have earned 400,000 euros (£316,000) from his book before it was banned and a subsequent TV documentary.

He claimed in the book Madeleine, who was three when she disappeared from the McCanns’ Algarve holiday apartment, had died in the flat and they had faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.

The book was released just three days after Gerry and Kate were told their status as arguidos or formal suspects had been lifted on July 21 2008.

The McCanns told the Lisbon court staging the Amaral libel trial in the summer of 2014 they were left “devastated and crushed” by his allegations.

Kate, 48, from Rothley, Leics, said Madeleine’s twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now 11, knew about Amaral’s allegations.

She told the court in July 2014 after applying to make a statement: “I believe that’s what's in Mr Amaral’s book and the documentary is very distressing to adults. To a child it could be very damaging.”

Asked by the judge how she felt after reading the book, she said: “I was devastated. It made me feel quite desperate because of the injustice I felt towards my daughter and our family as a whole.

“It was very painful to read and I felt sad for Madeleine. I also felt anxious and fearful because of the damage I felt it was doing in Portugal.”

She went on to accuse Amaral of “consistently smearing” her and Gerry and claimed they feared the book may have stopped people coming forward with information about their daughter’s whereabouts.

The ex-police chief always denied defamation, insisting what he wrote was based on case files which had already been made public.

Amaral’s lawyer Miguel Cruz Rodrigues claimed in court the McCanns had taken legal action against his client “to rid themselves of guilt for their negligent conduct” in leaving Madeleine and her siblings alone while they ate tapas with friends nearby.

He also claimed their lack of cooperation with the Portuguese police authorities had led to the archiving of the investigation in 2008.

Portuguese prosecutors reopened their probe into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in May 2014.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/7090166/Ex-police-chief-who-claimed-McCanns-covered-up-Maddies-death-by-faking-disappearance-to-sue-couple.html

[stephen25000]

Why do you hold a man you don't know in such high esteem after he was deemed by his superiors to be a liability to the investigation of a missing child?

He was case coordinator for 3 months.

He was removed after complaining about interference in the case.

Try to be accurate.

[G-Unit]

Fancy and expensive tap-dancing?

Let's see.

Amaral has a right to say anything that's in the files (true or not).

A complication is that stuff in the files is contradicted by other stuff, also, in the files.

So it's in the files (Almeida's interim report) that Eddie 'scented death' all over the place.

And it's in the files (Grime and Harrison) that no evidential reliability can be placed on the reactions of the dogs.

Does that entitle Amaral to say Eddie 'scented death' all over the place?

Or doesn't it?

It shouldn't, because there ought to be a general acceptance that Grime and Harrison have a clearer view (and more complete understanding) of what they are talking about than Almeida.

Amaral lied (about contradicting and correcting Prior on interpretation of the forensic results).

Amaral lied (about the role and pronouncements of Mark Harrison).

Amaral says Madeleine is dead when the present enquiry says she may be alive.

Amaral thinks calpol is a 'sleeping solution' (sedative).  It is not.

Amaral's final chapter directly contradicts the conclusions of the Portuguese prosecutors (from the shelved enquiry).

The lower court was NOT INTERESTED in arguments about the dogs when Gerry McCann tried to talk about them. I don't think it was interested in any of the other stuff you are going on about either. They belong on a thread about the contents of the book, not one about the appeal going Amaral's way.

[carlymichelle]

PRECISELY.

A judgement has been made.

The supporters were happy and gloating last time.

They need to get over it.

they shouldnt  get excited  about a supreme  court either  after  all they owe   GA and   the courts  all the cort  fees  and  the jury  panel all agreed with each  other

[ferryman]

Similar to the ones who perpetually spout Portugal is a fascist state, Grime is a charlatan and Amaral is ......well choose your expression, I expect don't you?

Strawman.

I said that this judgement has all the hallmarks of fascism.

I said that because it does.