McCanns appeal to the European Court of Human Rights

[Mr Gray]

Maybe it was impossible but the first thing was for the actors to turn up.

the problem was that the tapas had no confidence..faith or trust in the PJ..imo….and quite rightly too. They may have felt they could all be arrested and I certainly don't blame them

[Mr Gray]

According to the text of 277/1 sometimes enough evidence is gathered to prove that the arguido(s) didn't commit a crime. Isabel Duarte claimed that this was the case in this investigation. Had the group attended the reconstitution that may have been true, but they didn't.

PDC has said there is no evidence against the parents...surely in a just society that is enough to consider their non involvement...and as Carana has said...how could a recon prove innocence..it makes no sense imo

[Brietta]

the problem was that the tapas had no confidence..faith or trust in the PJ..imo….and quite rightly too. They may have felt they could all be arrested and I certainly don't blame them

According to Bridget O'Donnell it was a situation that Jes took very seriously as far as he was concerned.  He had a walk on part ... how much more worried would each of the McCann friends have been given the very bad coverage they had experienced at the hands of the press based mainly on leaks from 'a source close to the investigation'.

[G-Unit]

Have you had time to think of how that reconstruction could have proved their innocence in practice? I tried, but I really don't see how it could have done.

I agree.

It was, however, a diligence that should have been carried out and wasn't. Therefore the PJ were within their rights to request it. For them, the outcome was perhaps less important than the 'dotting of i's and crossing of t's' prior to archiving the case.

The refusals to attend by the witnesses handed the moral high ground to the Portuguese authorities. They were willing to keep on investigating.The friends and acquaintances of the McCanns were unwilling to cooperate with them.

[Mr Gray]

I agree.

It was, however, a diligence that should have been carried out and wasn't. Therefore the PJ were within their rights to request it. For them, the outcome was perhaps less important than the 'dotting of i's and crossing of t's' prior to archiving the case.

The refusals to attend by the witnesses handed the moral high ground to the Portuguese authorities. They were willing to keep on investigating.The friends and acquaintances of the McCanns were unwilling to cooperate with them.

what an admission of the futility of the recon...yet the SC attached so much importance to it...disgraceful.imo

[G-Unit]

this is exactly what amaral didn't do...…..

He wasn't a member of a 'public body', despite accusations by Duarte that he was still restricted as a retired police officer. The first judge fell for that, but not the senior judges.

[Brietta]

I agree.

It was, however, a diligence that should have been carried out and wasn't. Therefore the PJ were within their rights to request it. For them, the outcome was perhaps less important than the 'dotting of i's and crossing of t's' prior to archiving the case.

The refusals to attend by the witnesses handed the moral high ground to the Portuguese authorities. They were willing to keep on investigating.The friends and acquaintances of the McCanns were unwilling to cooperate with them.

If the diligence should already have been carried out, why wasn't it?  Why did it have to wait until Rebelo took over from Amaral?

Rebelo was carrying out procedures as we would know them when he took over the case, probably in my opinion to give him a better understanding of the situation.

The high moral ground was in my opinion lost to Portugal when procedures such as the reconstitution were neglected by the police and when material witnesses were so terrified of their position that they consulted lawyers about the advisability of returning to Portugal.

[Mr Gray]

He wasn't a member of a 'public body', despite accusations by Duarte that he was still restricted as a retired police officer. The first judge fell for that, but not the senior judges.

it may well be the first judge being younger was in touch with current  thinking whilst the older SC judges were not

[Alice Purjorick]

what an admission of the futility of the recon...yet the SC attached so much importance to it...denying the mccanns the presumption of innocence...disgraceful.imo

You seem to be taking about four discrete sections of Portuguese law mixing and muddling them up then drawing a conclusion from the mixture.

Precisely how do you believe the McCann's right to a presumption of innocence has been denied or infringed?

[Brietta]

He wasn't a member of a 'public body', despite accusations by Duarte that he was still restricted as a retired police officer. The first judge fell for that, but not the senior judges.

In my opinion if it was possible for him to retain the rank and privilege he enjoyed as a member of the PJ while drawing the pension he had worked for albeit two years earlier than he had perhaps hoped he did indeed continue to be governed by the rules of being a former member of a public body.

In my opinion he at least owed some discretion.

[G-Unit]

the problem was that the tapas had no confidence..faith or trust in the PJ..imo….and quite rightly too. They may have felt they could all be arrested and I certainly don't blame them

That's what they said, right enough. This is what Rebelo said;

In Portugal, the Criminal Investigation is conducted by the Policia Judiciaria, under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The competence to evaluate the interest and need for the performance of any Criminal Inquiry lies with these two entities, not with the witnesses......

Following the messages sent by the wittnesses', I hereby inform you that both the PJ and the Public Prosecutor responsible for the Investigation consider all the questions and doubts previously raised by the witnesses' to have been properly answered.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/RE_ENACTMENT.htm

[Alice Purjorick]

it may well be the first judge being younger was in touch with current  thinking whilst the older SC judges were not

Judges young or old "do law".

[G-Unit]

what an admission of the futility of the recon...yet the SC attached so much importance to it...denying the mccanns the presumption of innocence...disgraceful.imo

It was the public prosecutor who said they lost the chance to prove their innocence. Remember him? The man Duarte argued had ruled the McCanns innocent in his archiving dispatch? She must have missed that bit.

[Mr Gray]

Judges young or old "do law".

every profession is the same...some do it better than others

[Mr Gray]

It was the public prosecutor who said they lost the chance to prove their innocence. Remember him? The man Duarte argued had ruled the McCanns innocent in his archiving dispatch? She must have missed that bit.

not only didn't I miss it I pointed out to Anne Gueddes that the transaltion was wrong and she agreed with me...the report used the word comprovar which means demonstrate rather than provar which means prove