The McCann v Gonçalo Amaral libel trial as it happens.

[Montclair]

I haven't got a clue what's going on, or who said what, did what and postponed what!

Has Dr Amaral submitted reciepts?

Has Dr Amaral and co brought something up about the ward of court business at the last minute?

Has Mrs Duarte made a request for a postponement to allow time to submit more info re Alan Pike?

Did court convene on the 7th for the judge to announce a postponement?

I'm sorry if I'm just being thick, I just don't know what's rumour and what's fact.

It is up to the publishers and the video producers to produce the receipts not Gonçalo Amaral after all they were the ones who paid him.

The WOC issue had already been brought up previously by GA's lawyer but only now did the judge decide to ask for documentation confirming this state.

All I know is that Isabel Duarte asked for a postponement after submitting a document re Alan Pike.

The court did not convene on the 7th. The lawyers were informed the day before.

[Redblossom]

An abstract from the linked document

And it accuses Amaral of being a self-obsessed, manipulative money-grabber with no morals.

This should get a Nobel Prize for droll.

Most of it should....but you know how these thngs work, ask for the sky, declare the worst, expect to be met half way....Thats why I could never be a lawyer....dirty world

[Cariad]

It is up to the publishers and the video producers to produce the receipts not Gonçalo Amaral after all they were the ones who paid him.

The WOC issue had already been brought up previously by GA's lawyer but only now did the judge decide to ask for documentation confirming this state.

All I know is that Isabel Duarte asked for a postponement after submitting a document re Alan Pike.

The court did not convene on the 7th. The lawyers were informed the day before.

Thank you very much for clarifying that for me.

I wonder why the Judge has asked for documents about the WOC issue?

Are the people who claimed that these were delaying tactics standing by that assertion now they are aware that it was the Mccanns who have asked for a postponement?
 

[Wonderfulspam]

Most of it should....but you know how these thngs work, ask for the sky, declare the worst, expect to be met half way....Thats why I could never be a lawyer....dirty world

 The McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leics, claim Amaral's repeated insistence that their daughter is dead has stopped people looking for her. The lawsuit states: "Madeleine has been deprived of the possibility of a fair and adequate investigation into her disappearance, putting her moral and physical integrity at serious risk."

It says Gerry and Kate have been "totally destroyed from a moral, social, ethical, emotional and family point of view, beyond the pain that the absence of their eldest daughter causes them".

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/27JULY9/MIRROR_12_07_09.htm

[Lyall]

I really don't get you guys. You're upset so much by those words, yet you aren't by discussing theories about Madeleine being abducted by who knows who? That's really, really puzzling.

[sadie]

I really don't get you guys. You're upset so much by those words

I dont understand them either Lyall, but then they dont speak english as their native language, so dont understand some of our phrases.

And of course, they are anxious to always find everything that Amaral does ... PERFECT !

[Redblossom]

Not necessarily in PT, but in a place where it would be so difficult to sue them that no-one would bother.

What like timbuktu?

Your mistake was that you called people cowards and hiding because they must live abroad questioning the official version of events.....whenthe majority doing so are probably not! Are the Mccanns gonna sue me or any other person on here? get real, whether I live  in Surrey or the serengeti

[Estuarine]

I don't believe the case was ever expected to go to court. This was the first one that did. The English  press settled out which is par for the course. Allegedly another libel suit was pulled by the plaintiffs. I believe the expectation was to settle out. Looking at the witnesses for the plaintiffs and their conduct in court according to Anne Guedes' translations; well I wouldn't that lot standing next to me in a trench would you?. I believe it was cobbled together in a rush despite all the hanging about because they were caught out and it wound up in court. If it wasn't cobbled together and was a master plan.......jeez.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I don't believe the case was ever expected to go to court. This was the first one that did. The English  press settled out which is par for the course. Allegedly another libel suit was pulled by the plaintiffs. I believe the expectation was to settle out. Looking at the witnesses for the plaintiffs and their conduct in court according to Anne Guedes' translations; well I wouldn't that lot standing next to me in a trench would you?. I believe it was cobbled together in a rush despite all the hanging about because they were caught out and it wound up in court. If it wasn't cobbled together and was a master plan.......jeez.

Presume that's the explanation, Estuarine. Why else would the trial have been so badly and bizarrely prepared by the plaintiffs and their lawyers.

At the same time, they did have plenty of time to prepare. Their choice of witnesses and some of their arguments seem to defy logic and reason nomatter the circumstances.

[Montclair]

Can you answer this one Montclair.  For those of us who were wanting to attend the sitting on the 7 January and who had flights and accommodation booked, finding out a few hours beforehand is not acceptable.  Does the court not give proper advance warning of these postponements and if so, where please?

The judge is only obliged to inform the lawyers. Those who want to attend do so at their risk. I believe that the decision was made on Monday when Isabel Duarte made her request for a postponement.

[Montclair]

As I have already posted...Alan Pike was called to attest to kates suffering...did amarals team call any experts to contest his evidence...no..it would have been a waste of time.

In order to answer this question, you have to know how a libel trial works. In Portugal, the main objective of the court is to find the truth not to convict someone. For example, in the USA, the prosecutor's goal is to convict the defendent, that's all, they are not interested in finding the truth of what actually happened.

In the pretrial meetings between the lawyers and the judge, questions are drawn up and which must be answered in order for the judge to come to his/her verdict. Then the lawyers must then find witnesses who can answer these questions. One question could be "Did the amount of information coming in to the PJ diminish after the release of the book?" Then the lawyer for the defense calls someone, obviously from the police, who can answer that question. In the questioning and the cross examination, the lawyers are not allowed to deviate from the object of this question. If they do so, the judge or the other lawyers can call them to attention. It is very rigid  how a court hearing is carried out in this country.

As for Alan Pike, one of the questions was obviously about the parents mental state and he was called by the plaintiffs because of his "qualifications" and contact with the McCanns. It is not the practice here to call other witnesses to contradict other testimonies, it is not a confrontational system. I believe, however, that in the closing arguments, the lawyers can bring up contradictions, etc.

[ferryman]

How hard did Robert Murat find it to prove damage in his (successful) action against Correia de Manaha?

[Mr Gray]

I'm not aware of my being supported davel, What type of people are these supposed supporters exactly?

 I could explain exactly what I mean but my post would be removed

[Wonderfulspam]

I could explain exactly what I mean but my post would be removed

It's alright, just post it & I'll read it before it gets whoosed.

[stephen25000]

but you arte making it up...since when is it  a policemans job to write a book about an ongoing case. don't forget he was sacked from the case by his superiors

He was removed from the case for criticizing the UK police who were interfering with the investigation.


As to who writes a book................


km wrote a book, quite narcissistic and then some, as a result of what happened, i.e. her and her husbands neglect of their three children.

Like I said, you could not make this up.